Full Time Friend
by Last of the Lilac Wine
Summary: In the end Julia Pierce and Harry Potter fell madly in love, got married and had children; but before all that they were best friends.
1. Coffee

**A/N **I took this story down from this site a little over a year ago because I had decided to discontinue it. However, upon re-reading _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_, I forgot how much I loved the universe and characters in Harry Potter, and decided to re-write and re-post this fic!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Coffee<strong>

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><p>The smell of freshly brewed coffee drew Amelia into the kitchen that morning as she ran down the stairs, twisting her thick copper hair into a knot at the back of her head and anchoring it with bobby pins.<p>

Her niece was hunched over a steaming mug at the kitchen table, poring over a large copy of _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration _that Amelia had bought her only a week ago. Julia looked exhausted – her grey eyes were bloodshot; her chestnut hair pulled back in a knotty ponytail.

"Tell me you haven't been up all night," Amelia asked, shocked. Her niece, whilst over-eager, wasn't exactly the studious type.

Julia didn't even glance up. "I haven't been up all night" she parroted.

Amelia sighed, pouring herself a cup of coffee and slid into a chair across from her. "Honestly?"

"I've been up since two. I couldn't sleep," Julia amended, pulling a face.

Amelia frowned, taking in the young girl's messy hair and tired appearance. Was this the kind of thing, as designated care-giver and responsible adult that you were supposed to yell at? Put your foot down on? The idea of attempting to be her strict no-nonsense mother made her want to staple something to her head. Amelia settled for: "You shouldn't be drinking coffee at your age."

"What parenting book did you read that in?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. She hadn't heard that one before. "It's your first day of school."

Julia couldn't argue with that, so she turned back to reading her book. "What are you learning about?" Amelia asked, after taking another sip of coffee. She felt the much-need caffeine begin to take effect; the sugar singing in her bloodstream.

"The background concept of all basic transfigurations."

"And do you understand it?"

Julia's expression turned vaguely hysterical. "No…what's the matter?"

"Just having a flashback to why I had to re-take OWL Transfiguration."

"Oh God I'm going to be the dumbest in my class!" Julia cried, slamming her head into her crossed arms that rested on the table.

"You're going to do _fine_. The reason you go to school is to learn all that stuff. Now, what have you had for breakfast?"

"Coffee," came Julia's slightly muffled, slightly tearful reply as she spoke into her elbow. "I don't even _like _coffee."

"What about bacon and eggs? You need your protein."

Julia lifted her head to eye Amelia suspiciously as she magicked two eggs to crack themselves into a frying pan with a wave of her wand and set two strips of bacon by them. Julia had good reason to be suspicious – Amelia didn't cook often, and when she did, it was rarely edible. Domesticity had never been her strong point.

"Have you made sure everything's in your trunk?"

"Yes."

"And you've packed your robes?"

"_Yes_."

"Your new books?"

"Yes."

"Pudge's food?"

"Yeah-no!" Julia sped out of the room and then Amelia heard her thundering up the stairs. "I CAN'T FIND IT!" she yelled, a few seconds later.

For the life of her, Amelia would never understand why Julia had insisted on calling her new owl _Pudge_, she was sure the girl would regret it in a few years time, but for now it was something to quietly snicker over when her niece was out of the room.

"Check on your shelf, it's in a brown paper bag!"

"I STILL CAN'T SEE IT!" Julia yelled.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "It's next to that photo of you and I in France!"

"WHERE?"

"Oh for God's sake…" Amelia muttered to herself. "I _SAID _IT'S NEXT TO THAT PHOTO OF-"

"I FOUND IT!"

Amelia sighed, slipping the cooked pieces of bacon onto a plate for Julia and started scrambling the eggs. Julia appeared a few minutes later looking slightly breathless. "Smell's good" she said, appreciatively.

"It's about done, here."

Amelia fixed her niece with an unwavering stare until she had finished the whole plate. When she finished eating Amelia magicked it clean (she would never understand how Muggle's had the patience to wash each plate individually) and checked her watch.

"I've got to be at the office for ten to eleven – is it okay if I drop you off at King's Cross now?"

Julia's face turned slightly green. "Erm…sure."

"It's okay if you want me to stay with you, I can owl them and say I'll be late –"

"No, no it's fine – really."

"Julia."

"Amelia…"

Amelia chewed on her lower lip for a second, a guilty feeling lodging soundly in the pit of her stomach. She was trying to work her way up the ranks of the Department of Security - at the moment she was purely a researcher – but she hated it when that ambition sometimes placed her job before Julia. "Okay fine," she said, still feeling absolutely awful. "Let's go get your trunk and…Pudge."

"Right."

"And don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"I know."

Five minutes later Julia and Amelia were standing outside their little house on the outskirts of London hand in hand, Julia towing a magically enlightened trunk and Pudge's cage.

Amelia stole one last glance at her niece – the bitten half-moon fingernails, the freckle behind the ear, the zigzag in her hair – and saw instead the toddler who'd wait at the babysitter's window at sundown, because she knew that was when her Aunt came to get her.

Amelia felt a lump fill her throat as she realized how lonely she would be with out Julia in the house to keep her company.

"Ready Jules?"

Julia squeezed her hand slightly. "Ready."

Amelia took a deep breath and spun on her heel and the world went black.

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><p><strong>AN **I'm not entirely sure how many people still read new fics on this site seeing as the last Harry Potter film came out almost _three years ago_, so if you are interested in this, please **review **so I know to continue it!

_Last Of The Lilac Wine_


	2. One Small Step

**Chapter 2: One Small Step**

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><p>Julia opened the door to the last compartment on the train and came face to face with Harry Potter. Well, actually, he was sitting perhaps a meter away from her, but when something like this happens to you, distinctions hardly matter.<p>

Julia stared. He had messy black hair and glasses and hadn't seemed to notice she had entered the compartment yet. He was deep in conversation with another boy who had ginger hair and seemed to be physically incapable of tucking his shirt in.

"God I hope no one else comes in – how cool would it be to have a compartment all to ourselves?" the ginger boy was saying, eagerly.

Julia flushed crimson and was about to turn around and leave when the two boys finally noticed her, taking in the messy chestnut hair pulled back into an even messier bun, and anxious, grey eyes.

Realizing she was caught, Julia cleared her throat. "Er…could I sit here?"

The ginger boy flushed a peculiar shade of red that clashed horribly with his hair. Clearly, he'd realized Julia had heard the latter stages of his conversation. "I'm Julia, Julia Pearce," she added hurriedly.

Harry Potter spoke. Julia's anxious gaze swung from his friend back to him. "I'm Harry, and this is Ron."

Julia nodded, awkwardly tucking a piece of hair that had already fallen out of her bun behind her left ear. "Well..um..I'll just sit down."

Amelia had helped her stow her trunk away at the end of the carriage before leaving, but Julia still managed to possess an impressive itinerary of carry-on luggage. Too short to reach the baggage rack above their heads, she settled herself down next to the boy called Ron; a mountain balanced upon her knee made up of her rucksack, scarf, coat, and Pudge's case precariously topping the haphazard pile.

After an increasingly awkward silence, Harry decided to speak again. "Is that your owl?"

"Yeah" Julia said fondly, looking at Pudge who was sleeping peacefully in his cage.

"I have an owl too – I called her Hedwig."

_What an odd name for an owl_ Julia thought. Hedwig.

Deciding that she better include the other boy in their conversation Julia turned. "Do you have an owl Rupert?"

"It's Ron."

Julia's cheeks burned bright red once again. "Oh…sorry…so.._do _you have an owl, Ron?" She saw Harry wince out of the corner of her eye.

"No."

Another awkward silence. Despite meeting Harry Potter, Julia was beginning to regret entering his compartment.

She fiddled with the bottom of her pink sweater nervously, feeling Ron glare daggers at her. She wondered how she'd so badly offended him.

"Erm –" she cast around wildly; she couldn't handle awkward silences, instead plowing forwards with more questioning despite the obvious train wreck that was occurring. "- What's your family like, Ron?"

"Large."

"That's nice. I'd love to have brothers and sisters; I'm an only child. It would be great to have brothers – but I wouldn't want to be the youngest –" _shut up_! She scolded herself mentally, as she heard the incoherent babble she was nervously spewing out. "- I reckon being the youngest – well, everyone would have done everything before you and after a while nothing you did would really look impressive anymore, would it?" She stopped talking abruptly, ending with a question that possessed an air of hopeless desperation. "I mean, because your siblings would have done stuff before you."

"I'm the second youngest -" Ron muttered, somewhat grumpily.

Julia, taking him to be agreeing with her, stopped fidgeting with her sweater and grinned. "So you don't have it too bad, then," she said, brightly.

"- out of seven."

Julia resisted the urge to dig herself a hole in the ground and disappear into it, and instead resolved to sit in silence for the rest of the journey, miserable.

Harry proved himself to be completely useless at breaking the tension between Julia and Ron. In fact, everything about Harry Potter was surprising Julia: he wasn't at all what she expected.

He looked…overwhelmingly and surprisingly…_normal_.

"What?"

Julia moved her eyes from the window to look at Harry, surprised that her self-imposed silence had been broken so quickly. "_What_, what?" she asked, confused.

Harry Potter's green eyes flickered with hurt and irritation. "You just said that I wasn't what you expected."

Julia's eyes widened. "I said that _out loud_?"

"Listen" Ron butted in irritably. "No offense or anything, but wouldn't you rather hang out with some of the first year girls?"

"But I…didn't mean that you're not what I expected in a _bad _way -" but Harry didn't look convinced. In fact, he looked quite put out. Probably, he'd been hoping that nobody had been expecting _anything_ about him – which was just silly, Julia reflected, because he _was _Harry Potter, and he _had _saved the entire wizarding world from You-Know-Who, and – Julia sighed mentally as she took in the less-than-welcoming expressions on Harry and Ron's faces. It probably wouldbe for the best if she just left.

She grabbed Pudge's cage - Pudge letting out an indignant hoot at being woken up in such a manner – and made her way out of the compartment.

That was a complete disaster.

Julia frowned. Amelia _had _said making new friends would be hard, and she had been right. Amelia was usually right. It was just that, after her small collision with two of her first year peers, it suddenly hit her how hard it would be.

Or maybe she was just completely socially awkward.

But how was Julia to know that Ron was touchy about family, and not having an owl? And she couldn't control what she _accidentally _said out-loud…

To Julia, everything seemed very unfair right about now.

She ambled up and down the hallway slowly for a while, looking for another compartment that was not full of scary seventh years until she presently heard a loud angry voice.

Julia turned round and came face to face with a girl with bushy brown hair and pretty eyes. "Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley" the girl stormed, barely even noticing to whom she was ranting, "are the biggest idiots I have _ever _met! I mean they got into a fight before we even got into _school_, and Ron ate a sweet _he dropped on the floor_! Can you believe it?"

"Actually…I can."

"I swear they're both mentally challenged!"

"Harry Potter's mentally challenged?"

"Probably not," the girl admitted. "But Ronald Weasley definitely could be. He tried to turn his rat _yellow. _We don't learn that kind of magic until fourth year _and _he was doing the wand movements _all wrong_."

She stopped and looked at Julia, as if to measure whether she'd understood the severity of the ridiculousness that was Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. A slow smile had already spread across Julia's anxious face.

"_What_?" The girl asked - the tips of her ears going slightly pink - she abruptly looked self-conscious about her out-burst.

"Nothing…I'm Julia Pearce," said Julia, juggling Pudge's cage underneath her left arm and sticking her right hand out. The girl, after a brief hesitation, took it quickly. "Hermione Granger" she said in a business-like tone that couldn't conceal a tinge of excitement. "It's very nice to meet you Julia."

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><p><strong>AN **I hope I captured Harry, Ron and Hermione's voices okay in this chapter – I'm really going to work on getting the characterization right in this fic, so please let me know what you think so far.

Thank you, **Tangolikeoak**, for your review – it's nice to see that people are reading and enjoying this story!

_Last Of The Lilac Wine_


	3. The Ghost

**Chapter 3: The Ghost **

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><p>The train finally slowed and came to a stop and a disembodied voice announced for students to leave their luggage on the train. Julia bade Pudge a hurried, nervous goodbye before she and her new friend, Hermione, were swept off of the train with a sea of other students out into the dark onto a long, narrow platform.<p>

"Where do you s'pose we go now?" Julia asked Hermione, shivering; their new robes did little to keep out the frigid night air.

"Well…I expect if we just follow the crowd…" Hermione bit her lip, nervously attempting to sound practical. The two girls were too small to see where the crowd of students was taking them. Hermione was sticking as close to Julia as she could, short of grabbing the other girl's hand; obviously anxious they would be split up in the jostling crowd. The older students surrounding them were oblivious to the first years' low-level terror and raucous laughs and shouts filled the air.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

The gruff yell was coming from behind them, at the opposite end of the platform. Julia stopped abruptly, turning and craning her neck in a futile attempt to see from whom the call was emitting.

"Oi!" snapped a burly looking youth almost triple Julia's height as he almost stepped on her. "You can't just _stop _–"

"Sorry!" Hermione said hurriedly for her when all Julia could do was let out a strangled kind of squeak. She blindly grabbed her hand, dragging her back through the crowd of students towards the bellowing voice still calling "_Firs' years_!"

Both girls were shocked to find that their rallying call was coming from someone they could only describe as a giant. The man had a big, hairy face and huge shoulders –.but there was a kindly twinkle in his eyes as he said gruffly: "we all here then? Follow me. Mind yer step."

Slipping and sliding, they followed him down the rest of the platform and down a path through some trees. Nobody, spoke. Every now and then Julia caught sight of Ron Weasley's red hair a little ahead of them.

It had started to drizzle mildly by the time they reached a fleet of boats. Hermione had wrapped her scarf round her head in a kind of balaclava in an effort to stay warm.

They were one of the last ones to the lake-side and the boats seemingly had a four-person quota that needed to be filled before they floated off; meaning that Hermione and Julia were unwillingly separated. Hermione clambered into a boat with Harry, Ron and a plump, nervous looking boy and almost instantly the boat drifted off.

Julia, her long cloak dragging over wet pebble-stones, finally managed to find a free boat. She jumped in – her hands were shaking slightly from either nerves or cold, she couldn't tell which – and they set off.

Her traveling companions did not greet her, though the white-blonde haired, smug little schmuck did inform her gleefully when she dipped her fingers experimentally into the freezing cold water that a Giant Squid lived below its surface that ate anyone that fell in. His two, thick-set cronies laughed snidely at the comment in a way that made Julia think they would push her in just to find out.

She clung to the lantern-carrying pole at the front of the boat tightly just in case and looked mournfully at Hermione's bushy silhouette a little ahead of them.

All thoughts of death-by-squid were erased, however, as the boat passed the cliff face and suddenly a vast castle appeared in front of them – window's burning like fire, vast lawns sloping down from its base towards the lake.

Julia experienced what countless other Hogwarts students experienced in this moment. A sense of awe, excitement and – inexplicably – a sense of _home_.

The small fleet of boats entered a kind of underground harbor and Julia scrambled out of her vessel almost before it was stationary; shooting a dirty look at the three Slytherins (of that outcome, she had little doubt) she'd been forced to share with.

Hermione was located with minimal problem and Julia immediately launched into recounting to her her imaginative, strident revenge-theory in which the three Slytherin boys were humiliatingly sorted into _Huffelpuff._

By the time Julia was finished, Hermione was going 'shhh, shhh' out of the corner of her mouth, her head valiantly attempting to sink into her shoulders. There was, after all, she pointed out, a likelihood of a quarter of the people they were standing with being sorted into Huffelpuff; and, Hermione continued rationally, a chance of Julia herself being sorted into Huffelpuff. ('Me?! _Huffelpuff?_' Julia said, bewildered. 'What are you _talking _about?') She had her heart set on Gryffindor.

Thinking moonily of being round similarly intellectually-minded children, most likely, Hermione ventured that Ravenclaw might be a nice house to be sorted into. Julia realized with some panic that the chances of her and Hermione being sorted into the same house were incredibly slim.

Hagrid left them to be replaced by a stern-looking, tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes and spectacles. She led them up some stairs to a small, empty chamber off of the side of the Great Hall and addressed them with a firm, 'no-nonsense' kind of voice.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she started. "My name is Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards…"

Though Hermione was gazing up at Professor McGonagall like she could be God, Julia felt her concentration begin to slip away. She could smell the food wafting from the Great Hall, hear the low buzz of hundreds of conversations, _feel _the warmth that would chill her frozen skin and thought longingly of all these things, trying to –

the next thing she knew she felt a very unpleasant sensation of being doused with a bucket of ice water and there was a ghost protruding from her stomach.

Julia screamed, quite effectively ending Professor McGonagall's speech and watched in silent horror as the ghost floated through her and towards the great wooden doors directly in front of the group with out a backward glance.

Julia turned to Hermione, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"Did you just see that too?" Julia whispered hoarsely.

Hermione nodded her head slowly, looking completely traumatized.

"_Thank you_," snapped Professor McGonagall, fixing Julia with a steely gaze. Julia gulped. "Now - as I was saying - I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up and try to prevent any more hysterical outbursts."

Professor McGonagall glared at Julia pointedly, who Hermione quickly shuffled away from, and Julia glared at Hermione, for being a traitorous authoritarian bitch.

McGonagall disappeared for a few minutes - in which the first years nervously tried to make themselves look presentable and not throw up - and then, she returned. "Please form a line, and follow me."

"I can't _believe _you've already gotten on the bad-side of a _teacher_!" Hermione whispered to Julia out of the corner of her mouth as she stepped into the line in front of her.

"You would have screamed too if there was a _ghost _coming out of your stomach!"

Ron Weasley snorted from somewhere in front of Julia, and Hermione turned quickly to snap at him but the pair of double doors leading to the Great Hall opened and she quickly shut her mouth.

Julia was confronted by a large hall lit with thousands and thousands of candles floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. At the top of the Hall was another long table at which the teachers sat.

Hermione nudged Julia and nodded towards the ceiling, which was dotted with stars.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read it in _Hogwarts: A History_" she whispered, knowledgably.

Julia only nodded vaguely in response, trying to ignore the hundreds of pairs of eyes that had suddenly turned on them and how her legs felt like jelly.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and put the hat on to be sorted" said McGonagall, her voice ringing impressively through out the hall. "Abbot, Hannah."

A pink faced girl with blond pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. There was only a moment's pause when, –

"HUFFELPUFF!"

Julia suddenly became very conscious that her hair was incredibly messy in its bun, that she was a good two inches shorter than the second smallest person in the crowd, and that she was very likely going to throw-up before it was even her turn to put on the stupid hat.

A few students later and Professor McGonagall suddenly called out "Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost fell over as she ran out of the group and jammed the hat eagerly onto her head, and Julia blushed red at how unbelievably…_Hermione_ her new friend was.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Julia blinked – surprised – and then grinned. Maybe there was a chance she'd be in the same house as Hermione after all!

Ron groaned from beside her, which struck Julia as a very nasty thing to do, and she turned to glare at him. He pointedly ignored her, pretending to itch the side of his nose. Harry Potter looked very pale as he stood nervously on Ron's left, not taking his eyes off of the Sorting Hat.

Then there was "Perks, Sally-Anne, and then…

"Pearce, Julia!"

Julia gathered her courage and marched determinedly up to the hat, shoving all nerves to the back of her mind.

_You're putting me in Gryffindor_, she instructed it, severely, the moment she'd rammed the hat onto her head.

_You know, I don't really think that's for you to decide, _the hat told her dryly. _Let me see…my, my __**definitely **__more brawn then brains, here_… _And a good deal of emphasis placed on family and friends, it would seem. You know, Huffelpuff would suit you very well, my dear. _

Julia felt her eyes narrow. _Don't even. _

The hat sounded _amused_. Amused! _Is that a threat? _It asked.

_I'll feed you to the Giant Squid if you do._

_Dear me, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I ought to put you in Slytherin…_

_You think I'm joking._

…_Definitely not Ravenclaw…_

_GRYFFINDOR! Put me in Gryffindor you stupid hat! _

_Better be –_

_Please! I'm begging you – I'll do anything – I didn't mean the threat about the Giant Squid – I would never do that – Just don't put me in Slytherin – or Huffelpuff – definitely not Slytherin – just _

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat suddenly yelled out, cutting her off. The table to Julia's left exploded into applause and a few cheers.

Julia realized how fast her heart was beating and blew out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

_Maybe I won't feed you to the Giant Squid after all, _she told the hat, before taking it off her head.

She could have sworn she heard it chuckle.

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><p><strong>AN **Thank you to **Guest 2.0 **and **musicluver246 **for reviewing last chapter. To Guest 2.0, one of the things I most look forward to about writing this fic is going a bit more in depth into the first year at Hogwarts and what life in Hogwarts would actually be like, so thank you!

Julia should have more interaction with Harry and Ron next chapter, but I should warn you that she won't become friends with them straight away.

And no offense was intended to any Slytherins or Huffelpuff's in this chapter – I'm actually a Slytherin myself on Pottermore lol !

_Last Of The Lilac Wine _


	4. Enemies

**Chapter 4: Enemies**

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><p>After the welcoming feast – in which Julia had consumed a roast swimming in an ocean of gravy and two helpings of apple pie and custard – the first years were lead up to the Gryffindor common room by a ginger haired boy who looked suspiciously like Ron. Julia was rapidly losing track of how many other freckled, ginger-haired relations Ron had at this school.<p>

Julia and Hermione climbed a steep, drafty spiral staircase to the Gryffindor first year girl's dormitories, which was the third door from the top. Few words were exchanged. Julia was in a post-food kind of haze and Hermione looked as if she would fall asleep on her feet; covering a yawn with her hand every minute or so. The excitement of the feast and sorting were beginning to wear off and by now Julia judged that it had to be around eleven o'clock. Way past her bed time when she was at home.

When Hermione reached the dormitory door, however, both girls perked up slightly; interested to see their new bedroom.

Julia needn't have gotten her hopes up.

"It's so…old," she said, wrinkling her nose – her voice wilting with disappointment as she surveyed the small, albeit cozy circular room. There were five four-poster beds, lavish, with curtains of red crimson. They – along with everything else in the room – looked positively medieval.

"Hogwarts was built a long time ago…" Hermione reminded her.

"Well, you would've though they'd replace some of the furniture in the _one thousand years since it was built_."

"You don't think it has a sort of charm, though?" smiled Hermione, walking over to the bed that her luggage was piled at the foot of. "_Oooh_," she said, "I wonder how they got all our trunks up here. It mustn't have been easy, must it?"

"'Spect Hogwarts has house-el- WHHAHAAAA!"

Julia, who had been walking round the old-fashioned heater in the center of the room, suddenly screamed as a previously unnoticed door to her left was thrown open and a girl jumped out at her, yelling loudly.

The girl instantly fell about laughing on the floor at the terror on Julia's face and another girl emerged from the previously unnoticed room, doubled over with giggles.

"Oh – oh that was _funny_," the one who had assaulted her laughed. "You should have seen the look on your face!"

Julia was frozen to the spot, unmoving.

"You just – just –" the girl burst into fresh peels of laughter as she was helped up by

her friend. Julia's assailant had blonde hair that was tied into two blonde bunches and a rosy pink face; her accomplice was more elfin like, Indian, with a round face and a bad monobrow. Once they'd settled down, the blonde one introduced herself as Lavender and her dark haired friend as Parvarti.

"She has a twin sister called Padma," added Lavender, unnecessarily, her speech still punctuated every now and then by left-over giggles, "but she was sorted into Ravenclaw – Oh! - don't tell me your names – I think I remember from the sorting –" she turned to Hermione, her face tensed in a comical look of fierce concentration. Julia, now unfrozen, almost laughed. It looked like she was trying to go to the toilet. "_You're _last names Granger, isn't it?"

"Yes, my name is Hermione Granger," Hermione said, for some reason sounding like she was on-air on the local radio, and was going to ask the presenter if she could shout out a big hello to her Mum, her Dad, and all the people in Gryffindor tower.

Lavender nodded, turning to Julia expectantly. She seemed to be the kind of person that _exuded _energy, speaking in a rapid, bubbly tone of voice. "I forgot your name, but the Sorting Hat took _ages _to sort you."

"It's Julia. Pierce."

Lavender nodded. "Well then, I think it's just us four," she said, looking at the unoccupied fifth bed for a second, as if mourning the loss of their non-existent room-mate. After a few seconds she brightened almost instantaneously. "I've got _such_ a good idea – shall we play a game - a kind of getting-to-know-each-other one? Like truth or dare? I've got sweets left over from the train and –"

She rambled on. Julia's stomach twisted nauseously at the thought of more food, and she threw Hermione a 'help-I-just-want-to-sleep' kind of look that Hermione seemingly understood instantly, because she sent her own silent look back saying that she didn't want to be labeled the 'boring-one'.

_But you're better at being bossy than me, _Julia's own look sent back.

_You do it, _Hermione's eyes threw at her, _I don't want to be rude. _

_She _attacked _me! _

Hermione rolled her eyes in a way that said _don't be melodramatic_.

Julia's eyes narrowed. _**You **__don't be melodramatic! _

_I'm __**not**__ being melodramatic, Julia, that doesn't work. _

_Yes you are – you're trying to be all – all sensible._

Hermione raised one eyebrow in confusion and then gave a small, teacher-like sigh, her eyes saying gently _…I don't think you've got the right definition of melodramatic, dear…._

"Are you two okay?"

Both Julia and Hermione turned to look at Lavender, who seemed vaguely offended. Julia realized that to Lavender and Parvarti, it just looked as if she and Hermione were pulling faces across the room at each other. Hermione blushed bright red and ducked her head in a pretense of un-packing to hide it.

Julia shrugged at Lavender, schooling her features blank and strolled past the two girls to her bed next to Hermione's. The bed was far uglier than her one at home, but it looked like heaven just then. Julia _really _did not dig the stone-age decorum. "We're fine," she said, falling on top of the sheets fully clothed and stretching her arms out to hug the mattress gratefully. _Sllleeepppp._

"Just fine," she repeated, her words slurring with exhaustion. She burrowed her cheek into the warm blankets.

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><p>"Don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't eaten <em>a thing<em> this morning" Hermione said to Julia at the breakfast table the next day in her best know-it-all tone.

"Stalker."

"Honestly Julia."

"I'm nervous Hermione!" returned the smaller girl, miserably stabbing her bacon with a fork. Her usually confident, chipper self was somewhat wilted. "And when I'm nervous –"

"You maul your food?"

"I can't eat."

"At least have a piece of toast," Hermione urged "you'll feel better for it in classes."

Julia pouted, and continued to stubbornly push her fry up around her plate.

Suddenly Ron Weasley and Harry Potter slid onto the bench across from Hermione and Julia.

"I miss the Welcoming Feast already" Ron moaned loudly – though Julia noted the loss couldn't be killing him too much, because he was already helping himself enthusiastically to a great bowl of porridge.

And Hermione, because she honestly couldn't stop herself, pointed out practically: "You've got some perfectly good food in front of you already, why would you want the food from the Welcoming Feast?"

"The Welcoming Feast is _amazing_, that's why" Ron said, as if it were obvious. "I had three helpings of that trifle. _Three. And _the profiteroles."

"_Ew_" Julia interjected, apparently forgetting _her _two helpings of apple pie on the same evening. "How were you not sick after eating all that?"

"Mum says I have a stomach of steel," Ron smirked proudly, bringing his face down so close to his bowl his nose was almost in his porridge, and proceeding to devour it.

Harry had to snort at this as he buttered his toast and Ron was about to make a rather snappish reply when Professor McGonagall arrived at their spot on the Gryffindor table with schedules.

Julia moved herself slightly behind Hermione so she was well out of glare-range.

"Here are your schedules for this school year" Professor McGonagall announced, handing out four sheets of parchment. "You will have five classes per day and each lesson with be taken with first years of another house. _Please _attempt not to be late for lessons – points will be deducted from your house otherwise."

"Of course Professor" Hermione chirped up, beaming.

Ron murmured something that sounded suspiciously like _teacher's pet _under his breath, and he and Harry sniggered into their breakfasts.

Julia and Hermione meanwhile, were busy hurrying themselves off to their first lesson the moment Professor McGonagall moved on to a small group of fifth years further down the table.

"I hope I'll be able to understand everything in classes" Hermione fretted aloud as they stood outside the DADA classroom.

"I know" Julia replied. "You've been worrying about it at fifteen minute intervals since yesterday."

"Yes, but you're a _pure-blood _witch Julia, you have a big head-start on me. I'm sure you already know plenty!"

"I can assure you, I don't."

"But-"

Julia banged her head against the wall. "Hermione if you don't shut up, I'll hex you with the first spell I learn this week."

Hermione turned bright red and commenced worrying in silence, clutching her book to her chest as if she might absorb the knowledge in there.

Julia realized a few seconds too late that she had probably been a bit short with Hermione but wasn't quite sure how to apologise.

Over the next five minutes the classroom doors opened and several first year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students started to trickle into the classroom. Julia and Hermione took the desk somewhere towards the middle of the room (Julia wanted the back, but Hermione flatly refused – _it would give the wrong impression_) and Harry and Ron ran in just as the bell went. Julia scowled when they took the seats she had wanted right at the back of the class.

She was unable to voice her irritation to Hermione, however, as a man in a rather odd-looking turban arrived.

"G-good morning class." The stutter to Julia had the same irritation level as a nail being dragged across a sheet of glass and she winced.

"Good morning Professor" a few dutiful Ravenclaws and Hermione replied.

"T-that's the e-enthu-e-spirit I like to see" the man said, breaking into a nervous kind of smile. "I'm your new Defense t-teacher. Professor Quirrell. I will be t-teaching you basic hexes this y-ye-year. Are there any questions so far?"

There were, rather predictably, none.

"E-excellent. Will everyone please open their books to th-th-the first page."

Julia took out her brand new of_ The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1_, and examined the double-spread before her with interest. _The Knockback jinx_, it read, _can be used to 'knock back' an opponent. The incantation of this spell is_ _Flipendo_…She imagined using it last night on those ghastly Slytherins' in the boat.

"P-please could you all read the page about t-the-the Knockback jinx," continued Quirrell, "-and then g-g-get into p-p-pairs to practice. Excellent."

The class obeyed. Julia read the extract as fast and thoroughly as was humanly possible to get to the practical side of work quickly. Her fingers traced over the detailed diagram of the wand movement required for the spell. Looked simple enough.

"Is-s-s everyone almost finished with t-t-he theory? Yes? Excellent."

He already had a catch phrase.

Julia looked at Hermione out of the corner of her eye. "You finished?" she asked, eagerly.

Hermione nodded, already pulling her bushy hair into a ponytail that Julia would call – later in life, when she learnt a few choice swear words – Hermione's don't-fuck-with-me-ponytail. At this point in her life, however, Julia did not realize this indication that Hermione meant business, and assumed her friend would go easy on her.

They stood, facing one another in the open space once desks and chairs had been enchanted by Quirrell to stack themselves at opposing corners of the room.

"W-wands at the ready," Quirrell instructed, somewhat nervously.

The eleven-year olds obeyed with varying looks of determination, concentration and terror on their faces.

"Now attempt to 'knock-back' your partner."

Suddenly, all the children in the room bellowed "_flippendo_!".

Nothing much happened. In fact, for nearly every single student, nothing _did _happen apart from a few sparks shooting out of the tip of their wand. Hermione's jinx, on the other hand, was predictably executed the best.

It hit Julia before she could yell out her own incantation. There was a feeling like she'd been shoved hard in the shoulder – where Hermione's spell had hit her – and her upper-body twisted round with the force of the spell, her arms failing theatrically.

To cut a long, dramatic story short, Julia punched Lavender Brown in the face.

* * *

><p>In her first few weeks at Hogwarts, Julia seemed to be more adept at making enemies than friends. Maybe enemy was too stronger word, but childrens' minds tend to be theatrical. Lavender Brown, sporting a raging black eye, had definitely now marked Julia out as an arch nemesis. It wouldn't hurt to put Professor McGonagall on that list, or Lavender's side-kick Parvarti, or the three Slytherins from the boat, either.<p>

Julia and two boys known as Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, also, did not get on very well – and it all reached boiling point when a troll was found in a dungeon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **I'm aware that I haven't updated this since January, but I found all the old chapters for Full Time Friend on my laptop again, and I suddenly remembered how much I love Julia as a character. I'm working on so many heavy, serious stories at the moment that it's nice to have this light fluffy one on the side.

So, sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter – I didn't think I was continuing with this fic, in truth - and I hope you enjoyed it!

_Last Of The Lilac Wine_


	5. Rubber Duck

**A/N **Found loads of old chapters on my laptop - enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 5: RUBBER DUCK<strong>

* * *

><p>By Thursday of her first week of school, the excitement had caught up with Julia and she was struggling to open her eyes in the morning. Hermione seemed to have no problem with the punishingly long school days - for some reason Muggle children started school when they were just<em> four years old<em>, which to Julia sounded suspiciously like slave labour - but Julia was not used to morning rushes of breakfast and getting ready, and so readily took thirty minutes in the shower every morning to wake herself up.

As she lathered her hair with her favourite apple scented shampoo, murmuring the lyrics of the latest _Hate Potion_ song under her breath, Lavender pounded furiously on the door.

"_Come. On. Julia!_" she yelled. "_I need to brush my teeth!"_

Over Lavender, indistinctly, Hermione was also shouting at her to hurry up.

"Okay, okay I'm _coming_!" Julia huffed back.

She turned off the shower with some trepidation.

Today was her first Transfiguration lesson.

With Professor McGonagall.

As the thought hit her she froze, her own wide-eyed expression looking back out of the steamed mirror at her.

"_Julia we're going to be late for breakfast_!" (Hermione banging on the door this time.)

Julia hesitated in pulling on her school clothes.

Breakfast was overrated, wasn't it?

So was school. And lessons. Did she really need to go to McGonagall's class? Who needed Transfiguration anyway?

"_JULIIAAAAA_!"

Resigning herself to her fate, she pulled on the rest of her uniform and opened the door.

Before Julia could even get out of the bathroom, however, Lavender had shouldered past her with an indignant "_finally_!" and proceeded to arrange her hair anxiously in a way that would best cover up her black eye.

"You know, it's _your_ fault Lavender hates me," Julia informed Hermione as they entered the Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table. "You hit me with that spell."

"I'm not going to apologize for performing a spell correctly," Hermione retorted, exasperated, as she helped herself to Cornflakes.

"...and if you hadn't hit me in the arm, I wouldn't have punched her."

"You shouldn't have been standing so close."

"Or maybe your aim was off."

"My aim is perfectly fine thank-you-very-much."

"Er, who was supposed to throw the Quaffle to me and hit Neville? Oh - that's right -_ you_."

Hermione, slightly pink around the ears, changed the subject. "Well, never mind about Lavender, we're late - you better eat up."

"Harry and Ron are still here - when they leave, then I'll panic," pointed out Julia...just as the two boys evidently checked their watches with some alarm on their faces and ran off to their first lesson.

"Oh great," snapped Hermione, looking slightly frazzled as she leapt out of her seat and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Now we're really late."

"Lemme' finish my crumpets."

"Come _on _Julia!"

"You know, I think that's my catchphrase."

Despite her teasing, Julia jumped to her feet as well, hesitated, and then grabbed a few crumpets to take with her. Hermione rolled her eyes and the two girls sprinted out of the hall after Harry and Ron - the older students watching the panic on the first years' faces with bemused expressions.

As it turned out, Hermione had memorised the castle passageways a lot more effectively than Ron and Harry had, and Julia and Hermione made it to Transfiguration some time before they did.

As the two girls entered, however, Julia's stack of warm, toasty crumpets vanished from her hands. "_Hey_!" she exclaimed, through a mouthful of her first crumpet.

"Food is not permitted in classrooms, Miss Pearce," said Professor McGonagall from the front of the class, fixing her with an icy glare. "If I see you with food again in the class I will deduct ten points from Gryffindor."

Julia gulped the remaining food in her mouth down loudly.

After Harry and Ron stampeded in breathlessly and after it was ascertained that the whole class of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had arrived, Professor McGonagall took a small scroll of parchment from her desk. "You will be seated in alphabetical order for the rest of the year - this arrangement will be non-negotiable and is as follows:" she cleared her throat. "Terry Boot and Lavender Brown." (Lavender looked pleased at being paired with the handsome Ravenclaw, and then nervously flattened her fringe over her purple left eye.) Hermione was paired with Anthony Goldstein, a lanky boy taller than even Ron, Harry was partnered with Julia (whose stomach twisted uncomfortably at the announcement) and Ron with Dean Thomas, another boy in Gryffindor.

"Do you reckon McGonagall will notice if I sit with you?" Julia muttered to Hermione out of the corner of her mouth, remembering her last awkward encounter with Harry on the train_. You're not what I expected. _

"Probably, yes," said Hermione, dryly as she collected her things to move to sit with Goldstein. "I don't much look like Harry."

"I don't know," said Julia jokingly. She held up a felt-tip. "If you'd just let me -" She feigned moving towards Hermione's forehead to draw a scar and the other girl batted her hand out of the way.

"You've got to do it."

"But I want to sit with you! Teachers like me by association when I'm with you."

"That worked on Professor Binns because he couldn't tell us apart - it's not going to work on McGonagall."

"He kept calling me Benjy," Julia reminisced frowning, and Hermione took her chance to swerve round Julia and made her way over to where Anthony Goldstein was sat.

"_Oi_," Julia yelled after her, but Hermione just settled her bag on the table and smiled at her innocently.

Harry suddenly appeared at her side, one hand hiking his rucksack strap further up his shoulder. "...Hullo."

They were the only pair not to have found a desk yet. "Er, hi - Harry - I -" She had no idea what to say. Julia fiddled with the pen in her hand so nervously she dropped it and it fell to the floor. To her surprise, Harry bent and picked it up for her, handing her the pen.

"...Thanks."

"No problem."

"We should probably get a table."

"Yeah."

Harry was about to sit at the one closest to the front when Julia tugged on his robes dragging him further up the isle behind her. "_Not that one_!" she hissed under her breath. "_The one at the back!_"

"Miss Pearce, Mister Potter -" Professor McGonagall called after them both, stopping them in their tracks. They turned, Julia's shoulders slumped dejectedly, Harry's expression guilty. "-here, if you would be so kind," she said, pointing to the free table at the front.

Great.

After they had settled at the indicated desk, McGonagall proceeded to hand out complex timetables of the syllabus for the year. Julia glanced down at the modules.

_...Term 1: Basic household transfiguration and basic Reparifarge of inanimate objects. _

Harry looked at Julia and whispered under his breath sheepishly, "what's _reparifarge_?"

"Er - it's like -" Julia screwed up her face as she struggled to remember under what context she had heart Amelia use it round the house. "_Un_-transfiguration?"

Hermione startled them both by practically throwing herself over her and Goldstein's desk behind them. "It's a spell to return poorly transformed or transfigured objects back to their original states, actually."

"Like I said," said Julia with satisfaction, as if there had been no difference between her and Hermione's answers. "Un-transfiguration."

"I think I'll take Hermione's definition - I don't think 'un-transfiguration' is a word," said Harry, amused.

"Well I don't think your name is a word."

Seamus Finnegan laughed from across the room. "_Burn_, Harry."

"_Quiet please_," Professor McGonagall cut in, tiredly. There was a trace of regret in her features as she looked from Harry to Julia, clearly regretting seating this hyper, minute, pixie child next to the son of James Potter. "If anyone talks whilst I am talking again they will be sent from this classroom and will not come back."

All the students instantly fell silent and sat a little straighter in their seats. Professor McGonagall turned a huge blackboard and used her wand to draw a complex looking diagram of a wand movement on it.

"This is the incantation you will be using to turn a match into a needle," she said.

Harry, sat next to her, looked vaguely alarmed at the complicated drawing. Julia, on the other hand, grinned broadly. "Bring it."

* * *

><p>At the end of the lesson, Julia was no longer under the impression turning a match to a needle would be easy.<p>

"_How did you make yours pointy like that_?" she demanded of Harry, gazing at his pointy matchstick with jealousy.

"Oh! Er- I dunno. I just did that wrist movement thing - "

"...I give up. I'm hopeless."

"No you're not."

"Does my match look like a needle to you?!"

"Er -"

"McGonagall wasn't even impressed when I turned it into a rubber duck."

"She kind of was. I think she thought you were some sort of child prodigy."

"Not when she asked me to do it again and realized I couldn't."

"Well..."

"She called it a fluke."

"I thought it was cool."

"So did I," Julia moped, Harry gingerly patted her shoulder, unsure of how to deal with this highly melodramatic girl who could be rendered deeply depressed by a match-stick.

Behind them McGonagall had just seen Hermione successfully transfigure the needle and was holding it up to the class to show them how it was silver and pointy at end.

Harry leaned over to her as McGonagall praised Hermione and said, quietly. "Still not as cool as a rubber duck, though."

Somehow, Julia felt infinitely better after that.


	6. Pride and Prejudice

**CHAPTER 6: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE**

* * *

><p>Julia pushed the toilet cubicle door gently open to reveal Hermione - who quickly leapt up from the toilet seat, scrubbing tears off her heart shaped face.<p>

"What's wrong?" Julia asked, startled.

"Ron."

"Ron?"

"Friends with Harry -?"

"I know who Ron is, 'Mione, I'm just surprised that he's gotten to you, that's all," Julia said, sitting herself down on the toilet seat lid next to her friends. Though both their shoulders were rammed up against the cubicle's walls, Julia was so tiny they both fit.

"Well, I'm upset with him."

"Okay...?"

"...everyone just seemed to gravitate towards one another immediately. Ron and Harry, Dean and Seamus, Lavender and Parvarti -"

"-me and you?!-" Julia interjected, stung.

"-but my point is, what am I supposed to talk to any of them about?! Ron and Harry just talk about Quidditch. And Lavender and Parvarti - all those two are interested in is painting each-others nails and plaiting each-others hair! What on earth am I supposed to say! 'So, Lavender, what's your favourite Jane Austen Novel, _Persuasion _or _Mansfield Park_?"

"Where's Mansfield Park?"

"_See_!" Hermione wailed, burying her face in her hands. "Nobody cares!" Julia, feeling very perplexed and somewhat hurt, looked at her friend. "Nobody understands," continued Hermione, "no one understands _me - _the Muggle world. Ron's _right_. I have no friends. And oh dear, I've made you upset now too. I'm _hopeless_."

Julia didn't quite know what to say, nor did she really know what was wrong with her friend seeing as in Julia's head, Hermione had her, and that was all she really needed. Julia had never been one to worry about what others thought of her.

"Wait here," she said, quickly.

Julia returned around twenty minutes later with a large stack of Muggle books she'd checked out of the library - numerous ones of them Jane Austen novels - and set them down on the floor.

"If I read these," she said, brightly, "then I'll know what you're talking about."

Hermione looked at her for one very long second, her lower lip trembling slightly and then she murmured - her voice cracking from crying so much - "you'd do that?"

Julia picked up one of the massive volumes and turned it in her hands uncertainly. Up until now her reading material had sort of consisted of _The Adventures of Bernard Whimbleby. _"I dunno. I'll give it a go, though."

Apparently, that was enough for Hermione, who suddenly beamed. She fished through the pile and handed Julia a slightly smaller novel. "Read Pride and Prejudice first, you'll like that," she said, eagerly.

Julia nodded and the pair now stood facing each other awkwardly for several seconds in the cramped confines of a toilet cubicle. "So, are you...y'know...feeling alright now?"

"'Tact isn't really your thing, is it?"

"Nope."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let Ron get to me. I do have friends - I have _you_." Julia smiled slightly as Hermione rushed on self-consciously. "I've just been really worried about being Muggle-Born ever since I go to Hogwarts."

"Well I've been worried about sounding stupid," said Julia, "so we should balance out." Her stomach rumbled and she glanced down at it, surprised, as if it were an entirely separate entity. "C'mon," she said, gathering the stack of books up into her arms. "The Halloween feast'll be almost over - and I really want some pumpkin pie."

Hermione nodded and the two girls exited the cubicle...and came face to face with a mountain troll. It was a truly horrible sight, and Julia thought it looked ever so slightly like one of the Slytherin boys from her classes, Crabbe. The thing was at least twelve feet tall, granite grey and had a huge, lumpy body with a rather tiny head perched atop it.

It was staring directly at the two girls and ever so slowly it began to raise its gigantic club. Hermione let out a petrified scream and dived left, under a sink, and Julia ran backwards and locked herself in the cubicle - probably one of the least smart things to do.

The troll brought its club down and Hermione screamed _"Julia!", _but the thing really did have terrible aim, because the club smashed into the cubicle next to hers, and she was able to scramble over the wreckage and behind the troll.

Straightening up, Julia saw Ron Weasley and Harry Potter both standing in the doorway to the girls' toilet's, looking absolutely shocked. Everything seemed to freeze and at length Ron remarked: "well, at least we found Hermione and Julia."

Then the troll raised its club again, and Hermione let out another ear-piercing scream.

"Well don't just _stand _there!" yelled Julia. "_Help_!"

Harry looked at the shattered wood at their feet. "Confuse it!" he said, desperately, and seized a tap from the ground and flung it at the troll.

It is worth noting that, whilst Harry had very good aim, and Ron was passable, Julia was short and weak, and one particularly ill-judged throw only managed to bounce lightly off the troll's knee.

Despite the life-threatening situation, Ron sniggered next to her.

"_Shut it_," huffed Julia, her face red with exertion as she picked up another piece of wood and threw it as hard as she could.

At this point the troll gave up on the three of them and turned back to Hermione, who was plastered against the opposite wall, paralyzed with fear.

"Come on, _run_!" Harry yelled at her, and Julia just stood with Ron and watched in horror and her brilliant, top-of-the-class friend could do nothing but stare at the troll with a shocked expression on her face.

And then Harry did something that was both very brave and very stupid: he took a great running leap and managed to fasten both his arms round the troll's neck. What commenced next seemed to happen in a blur; Ron performed a shockingly clever piece of magic which involved levitating the troll's club, Harry stuck his wand up its nose, and Julia was caught by the falling troll's arm and knocked unconscious.

She would later blame Harry and Ron for this, for not telling her to move out of the way in time.


	7. Slytherin

**CHAPTER 7: SLYTHERIN **

* * *

><p>When Julia was younger, Amelia had a recurring nightmare. She'd wake up in her bed - in the dream - in the middle of night and suddenly feel compelled to check on Julia in her cot. She'd walk across her night-darkened hallway, sleepy and tired, as she had done every night and push open the door to Julia's tiny room. It would always be dark at first - too dark to see. The unicorns she had lopsidedly painted on her niece's wall would only be grey, shapeless splodges in the dim light emitted from the corridor. And Amelia would step in, walking in the direction of the cot - and her foot would connect with something solid. She'd look down, and there would be Caroline, her big sister, dead on the ground. The unmistakeable marks of torture on her skin; her eyes staring unseeingly up into her face. Gus - her husband - would be lying a few feet away. Amelia and Caroline's parents both lying in the other corner of the room. Julia, who was supposed to be in her cot, would be gone.<p>

And the window would be thrown up and the room would be cold - a haunting, chilling breeze blowing the curtains.

She'd awaken, sobbing and shaking and cursing herself for these_ stupid, _irrational fears when it had been_ years_ - but all the same Amelia would hurry into Julia's room to check that she was still there. That she still had her niece, even though she'd lost everything else in the war.

Now, as Amelia sat in the quiet dark of the hospital wing at Hogwarts - in her pajamas, no less - she couldn't quite convince herself she wasn't waking up from the same old dream, and had hurried into Julia's room to check on her.

This is what Amelia had learned from a very bushy-haired and earnest eleven year old girl; Julia and her friends had encountered a mountain troll in the girls' toilets, of all places, and in the battle to escape Julia had been knocked unconscious - in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had a nasty cut on her forehead which Madam Pomfrey said would heal in a day or so, and a mild concussion.

Merlin, a_ troll_? Amelia thought, reaching forwards and brushing Julia's short fringe out of her eyes as she slept. That had been an awkward conversation with Professor McGonagall. She could remember the woman failing her in OWL Transfiguration and forcing her to retake it with her Sixth Year Exams - but more importantly, Amelia, who now worked in the Department of Security, technically should have been pressing charges. She had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time Julia would force her to compromise her job.

Suddenly, her niece stirred and woke. "Where am I?" she slurred, struggling up onto her elbows.

"You're in the hospital wing."

"Why?"

"You and your friends had a little run-in with a mountain troll. You were knocked unconscious."

"Ha. _Little_ run in," Julia said, weakly. She paused to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Why are you here? Oh - wait - is Hermione okay?!"

"She took the blame for going after the mountain troll - other than that, yes, she's fine."

Before Julia could reply, however, they heard three voices coming from outside the hospital wing door. In the silence of the chamber the noise echoed off the walls.

"_Are we going in or what?"_

_"I wonder if Madam Pomfrey will let us see her_ -" said a worried voice. Definitely Hermione. "_Should we try_?"

"No," said another voice, bluntly. Ron.

Hermione again - voice now sharp with annoyance. "_Why ever not_?"

"_Julia and Harry and I aren't even friends - it would be awkward_."

Amelia made a motion indicating that she was going to see Madam Pomfrey and walked towards her office.

There was an irritated noise from Hermione. "Oh _don't be ridiculous Ron_!" - and the doors opened.

Julia looked as three figures stood silhouetted in the doorway. When Hermione saw that Julia was awake she squealed and ran over the hug her. Ron and Harry, meanwhile, lagged behind a little, both looking extremely uncomfortable.

"You're awake!" Hermione said, pulling back from the hug and grinning.

"Yeah." Julia took in her friend who had a bad bruise on her forehead but otherwise looked fine. "So...why did you do it?"

Hermione rocked onto her heels, looking confused. "Do what?"

"You said _you _went looking for the troll."

Hermione turned a pink and Ron suddenly looked very smug. "I...I didn't want any of you to get in trouble."

"Oh Hermione, why did you do _that_? I mean, I'm _glad _you did because I want to win the House Cup - and it was very noble - but now you're not exactly going to be McGonagall's favourite anymore, are you? It was a bit thick."

"Thanks for your support, Julia," said Hermione, dryly. Then she raised her chin a fraction of an inch and said: "And I don't really care what Professor McGonagall thinks of me, either."

The effect was marred, however, by the fact that her voice cracked slightly and Ron and Harry both snorted from behind her.

Julia turned to frown at the both of them, pushing herself further up in bed against her pillows. "So why are you two here?"

"Hermione forced us to - OW? What was that for?" Ron grumbled at Harry, who had elbowed him in the side.

"We came to see if you were okay," Harry said quickly, if not slightly awkwardly. Julia couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks and hoped that it was dark enough that no-one could see. "Well...thank you, I guess."

He grinned weakly. "Just try not to get in the way of a falling troll next time."

"I do not _get in the way _of anything."

Ron walked forwards and sat himself at the end of Julia's bed looking absolutely knackered.

"I can't believe we were almost _expelled_," he said, flopping backwards to lie horizontally over Julia's feet.

Julia broke into a cold sweat and looked up. Expelled? _And_ she had nearly died. "...my Mum and Dad would have gone ballistic if I'd been expelled!" Ron continued, ignoring Julia's distress. "None of my brothers have been expelled. Fred and George were suspended for a week, once, but they were never _expelled_ -"

Julia thought about all the fun she'd had at Hogwarts so far, and then thought about spending the year with a home-tutor whilst Amelia was at work.

"At least you've got somewhere to go back to," said Harry, miserably. "If I'd been expelled, I'd have to go back to live with my Aunt and Uncle - and they hate me."

Julia looked at Harry in surprise. Nobody's Aunt and Uncle actually _hated _them - did they? Amelia and her hand a perfectly normal relationship.

"Yeah, well, at least you and Hermione would go to a Muggle school," snapped Ron. "Me and Julia would have to stay at home until we were _seventeen_. My brothers would take the mickey out of me forever."

"_And _I wouldn't be able to play Quidditch!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, as the thought occurred to him. Julia noticed that Hermione's eyes twitched strangely, as if she was trying to refrain from rolling them.

"Well you can't even play Quidditch now," Julia pointed out. "You're a first year."

Harry and Ron both grinned and Harry shook his head. "I'm on the team. Seeker."

"_WHAT?!_" gasped Julia. "A first year hasn't been on the team in -"

"-over a century." Ron finished for her. "We know. Oliver Wood doesn't shut up about it."

There was an awkward pause as Julia digested the news.

Suddenly, however, she started to giggle, and the others looked at her warily as if she were going insane.

"What's so funny?" asked Hermione, looking amused despite herself.

"I was just..ha ha... Remembering the look on the troll's face when Harry...aha...shove his wand up the troll's nose. It was soooo funny!"

Harry grinned. "That _was_ pretty funny."

"Yeah he didn't see that one coming," interjected Ron.

Harry did an impression of the troll stumbling round in confusion at having a foreign object up its nostril, which reduced Julia to hysterics.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at Harry's imitation. "It was still gross, Harry."

He shrugged. "Who keeps a troll in a school anyway?"

"Someone _mental_, obviously," said Ron.

"Oh will you two please use your _minds_ - the troll wasn't kept at school. Someone let it _in_," reasoned Hermione.

"It was Snape," Harry and Ron all said at once.

"Why do you hate him so much? Dumbledore trusts him."

"Sorry, did you just ask us _why _they hate Snape?" asked Julia, disbelievingly, as she remembered a particularly horrible lesson in which Snape had made her clean out jars of dead spiders because her homework was late. "He's a Slytherin and Slytherin's are a bunch of evil gits - er, no offense Amelia."

Amelia had strolled back into the room, a slight smile playing on her lips as she took in her niece's mortified blush.

"It's okay. But you four ought to keep in mind that Slytherin's and Gryffindor's _can _get along."

"Were you in Gryffindor when you came here Miss Pearce?" asked Hermione, politely.

"No, I couldn't _stand _Gryffindor's," she said, looking at Julia and poking her in the ribs teasingly. "I was in Slytherin."


	8. Family

**CHAPTER 8: FAMILY **

* * *

><p>Julia was having a bad day. The red and yellow striped scarf she'd worn for supporting Gryffindor in their first Quidditch match of the season had been hexed green by a <em>very<em> unpleasant Slytherin fifth year. She'd tripped on the way down to breakfast - twice - and she had forgotten to turn in her Herbology homework this morning, the deadline of which Professor Sprout had grudgingly agreed to extend over a week past it's due date for her (though she wouldn't realize this until approximately 10 'o' clock that evening, 13 hours too late).

Julia collapsed into her usual seat beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table and helped herself to a bowl of cereal - too exhausted from her morning to feel a thrill over the fact that four of them actually had 'usual' seats now.

"You've got to eat some breakfast," Hermione was pestering Harry, shoving a piece of toast underneath his nose.

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast..."

"_No_, Hermione."

"Just a little bit."

"I'm not hungry."

"Just a -"

"'Ee said _no_, 'Mione," Ron snapped through a mouthful of food (spraying Julia in the process) - Harry sent a grateful look in his direction as Julia flung a bread roll at Ron's head. "Say it don't spray it, Ronald!" she snapped, accidentally dribbling milk from her cereal down her front. "Oh - _damn_. Anyway," she added, darkly, looking up from her ruined school robes. "As long as Harry wins this match I don't care if he eats or not. I'm not showing my face at that match just to see Gryffindor _lose_."

"Aren't you supposed to say winning's _not_ the most important thing?" asked Hermione, in exasperation.

That didn't translate well with Julia, Ron or Harry. The three of them stared at her. Then stared at her some more.

"It's a game, Hermione," said Harry, very slowly, as if he were speaking to a five-year-old. "The whole point is to win."

"Here, here," said a voice from behind Julia and she turned to see two stocky red-headed twins also dressed in Quidditch gear. Fred and George, Ron's miscreant brothers. "We expected to see more house spirit from you, Granger," said the twin closest to Julia.

"Oh, _honestly_, I'm being realistic; Gryffindor's not going to be winning any matches if Harry _faints _from hunger."

"An excellent point - eat up Harry!"

"And don't forget your greens either," winked the other twin - Fred - over his shoulder, both of them already sauntering off to join their mates as a small crowd of them made their way down to the Quidditch pitch.

Hermione checked her watch. "It's half past ten - you better get going Harry."

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, picking at an imaginary loose thread on his Quidditch robes. He rose, gripping his Nimbus Two Thousand to his chest and Julia suddenly ducked and crawled under the table to Harry's side.

"What are you -"

"Good luck!" she grinned, looping her arms round his neck in what was clearly supposed to be a hug, but really looked like a headlock since she had to drag him down to her height, and Harry couldn't hug her back because he was still gripping his broom. "Thanks," Harry choked, massaging his neck gingerly when Julia released him. He looked at Ron, gave him a jerky nod, and then left.

"I better go too," Hermione said, in a very business-like tone.

"How come?" Ron asked, glancing at Julia very quickly and then back at Hermione.

"I was going to make a banner to bring to the stands with us - I'll see you two at the match."

"Sure!" said Julia brightly, completely oblivious to the resigned look on Ron's face as she swung herself onto the seat Harry had recently vacated. Despite the fact that Ron, Harry, Hermione and Julia were now considered friends, Julia had never been on her own with Ron before.

She ripped at the bread roll Harry had left on his plate idly. "So...Rupert..."

Ron lifted his gaze from the table. "Oi, don't start that again."

Julia grinned. "I _was joking_. So, was that Fred and George that just came over?"

Julia was honestly curious about Ron's family. She herself was an only child and she couldn't imagine living in a family as big as Ron's. The fact that he had_ six_ siblings was completely alien to her.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, the 'Havoc Twins' Mum used to call them. Everyone thinks their hilarious but they drive me mental most days."

"I've always wanted an older brother or sister."

Ron's expression turned dark. "You can have Percy any day. Bloody prefect - _perfect Percy_. He would never get drunk of get a tattoo like Charlie did. His life's ambition is to work for the Ministry of Magic." Ron said this as if Percy's life ambition was to live under a desk for the remainder of his life.

Julia glanced around the Great Hall, spotting Percy at the Ravenclaw table with a brown haired girl who had a rather large nose. She couldn't help but agree with Ron - Percy had told her off for trying to kick Mrs Norris down the stairs when she was with Harry, Ron and Hermione the other week - _Mrs Norris_.

Ron, who had evidently taken a self-conscious turn after his chattiness, suddenly remembered to ask Julia politely, "So...what's your family like?"

"Amelia's great."

"Was she really in Slytherin?" Ron asked, his voice slightly hushed. "Your Aunt?"

Julia pulled a face of disgust. "Yeah."

"Oi - maybe you broke family tradition by being in Gryffindor. How cool would _that_ be? You'd be, like, the rebel of the family. Mum says that kind of thing hasn't happened since _Sirius Black_."

"Are you comparing me to a mass murderer?" Julia glared. Ron's ears burned in embarrassment and she waved a hand, indicating that she'd only been faking her annoyance. "Nah, I haven't broken any tradition. Would be cool, though. I think my family were pretty inconsistent. My Mum was in Huffelpuff and my Dad was in Ravenclaw."

Ron pushed his food round his plate awkwardly. "Your parents died, didn't they - in the war? Mum said the Pearce's -" He trailed off.

Ice twisted in Julia's stomach and she nodded slowly, reflecting on the irony that _Ron_ was the first person she'd openly admitted this to. Of course, Julia had caught Hermione looking at her curiously a few times she'd mentioned being raised by Amelia, but her friend had been too polite to ask. "Yeah. But, I mean, loads of peoples parents' died in the war - Harry's parents did. Neville lives with his Nan -" Julia rushed out, as if trying to justify her orphaned status.

"Oh - yeah," agreed Ron, looking ashamed he had brought the subject up. "Mum always said we were really lucky...you know, that...nobody in our family - I mean - "

Julia was silent. She wondered how it was fair that a family as large as Ron's could survive whilst her family - even her _parent's_ parents - were wiped from existence, leaving her with only her Aunt.

The two children stared at their plates for a while - suddenly not hungry anymore and unsure how to talk about normal things again, trying to grapple with the weight of the conversation they had just had.

"You know what. Maybe we should go to the match now."

Ron looked at Julia - at her grey eyes looking earnestly into his as she valiantly attempted to change the subject and he nodded. "Yeah, okay."


	9. Tall

**CHAPTER 9: TALL**

* * *

><p>"So this is what it feels like to be tall," mused Julia as she and Hermione walked down the third floor corridor to the hospital wing the night of the Gryffindor - Slytherin match. There had been a loud party going on in the Common room, and somehow someone had smuggled in fire whisky which a particular 6th Year that went by the name of Rhys Burlidge had obviously consumed too much of. He had stormed up to Julia, angrily demanded which <em>git<em> had put a shrinking curse on her, and as Julia protested that nobody _had _put a shrinking curse on her and that she really was this short, the 6th Year had cast a growth charm on her until she was about six foot. Hence, the embarrassing trip to the Hospital Wing to get the charm removed.

Julia stumbled for what felt like the fiftieth time in four minutes, narrowly missing a complete fall by grabbing a suit of armour.

"Honestly, Julia, Burlidge didn't make you _that_ tall," Hermione laughed as she helped her friend re-balance herself.

"You want me to put a growth charm on you and see how it feels?" Julia demanded. "It's like walking on stilts...I don't understand how Ron lives with this."

"Speaking of those two, I wonder where they are - I didn't see them in the Gryffindor Common Room at all tonight."

"If I know Harry he'll be trying to figure out who that Flamel person is that Hagrid told us about."

Hermione glanced at Julia out of the corner of her eye curiously for some reason. "I expect you're right."

Julia blushed and gazed at the floor. She wasn't as focused on the Nicolas Flamel mystery as the other three were - probably because she hadn't seen the three-headed dog like they had and the trap door - but also because she was busy trying to solve one of her own. Her conversation with Ron over breakfast that morning had suddenly made her realize how little she knew about her own parents. Amelia rarely spoke of her sister or her brother in law, and though there were a few pictures round the house, Julia had always been too scared to ask her Aunt about anything. It was clear for Amelia that the pain of losing her family had never really left her, and Julia didn't want to open old wounds.

"Oh damn it!" Julia suddenly cried, turning to look at Hermione. "I've forgotten to hand in my Herbology homework!"

"...Julia that's the fourth late homework this _month_."

"You don't need to remind me Hermione."

"But you know what that means-"

"Shut up."

"Oh _Julia_ - "

"I know."

"You've got a _detention_." Hermione all but whispered the word, as if it were not something fit to be said aloud.

Julia threw up her hands, but stumbled again when the movement sent her off balance. She hated being tall.

"Julia, our homework was to draw a tree." Hermione's voice was thick with disapproval and exasperation.

Julia smiled. "Have I mentioned recently how much I love Herbology?"

"Focus."

"Right."

"Professor Sprout already extended the deadline a whole _week_ for you."

"I know, I know! _Merlin_, why do I have to get a detention at Christmas! My first detention, too."

"You're not getting any sympathy from me."

"You really don't get this whole concept of friendship, do you?"

Hermione looked offended. "That's really rude, actually."

"It's a _joke_."

"You've been using that as an excuse to insult me an awful lot recently. You can't just be hurtful and then think it's negated by saying 'it's a joke'."

"It's only insulting because you clearly don't get my sense of humour."

"Because it's not funny."

"I'm hilarious."

Hermione huffed. "If you work on meeting deadlines, then I'll work on being more sympathetic. Deal?"

Julia grinned. "Deal."

The two girls walked on in silence which was only broken by Julia nervously skittering behind tapestries to avoid the humiliation of being seen by another student, dragging Hermione with her.

After a few minutes of walking side by side quietly, Hermione began fidgeting. She glanced at Julia, and then opened her mouth. And shut it again. And then burst out: "Your _first detention_ -"

"_I know!" _

* * *

><p>Julia and Hermione managed to nab the best sofa by the Common Room fire that night. The post-Quidditch march celebrations had not yet entirely subsided, but the majority of the Gryffindor house had gone to bed. To Julia's intense relief, the Sixth Year Rhys Burlidge was nowhere to be seen.<p>

Hermione flipped a page of her book. She was reading intently, and Julia jiggled her legs that were stretched out over Hemione's to get her attention. Her friend looked up.

"McGonagall'll let me go home for the weekend, won't she?" Julia asked frowning, not looking up from the letter she was busy penning to Amelia.

"I expect so - Parvarti and Padma Patil did it."

"Mmm, so did Seamus Finnegan, but he swears he wasn't homesick."

Hermione lowered her book slightly, raising an eyebrow. "You're not homesick, are you?"

"A little," the smaller girl admitted. Her conversation with Ron had suddenly made her all the more acutely aware of her parentless status, which made her miss the only family she had left even more. "...But seeing as McGonagall has a vendetta against me, I doubt she'll let me go."

"Rubbish, of course she will. You always over-exaggerate everything, Julia."

"Do not!"

"Do _too_."

"Do n- oi! There's Ron and Harry - don't tell me you two've been in the library. I might _die _of shock."

"We were in the library," laughed Harry, and Julia feigned a heart attack, collapsing theatrically to the ground. Harry rolled his eyes and took her now empty seat whilst Ron sprawled out on the carpet next to Julia, letting the massive stack of books in his arms spill out around them.

"We _tried _to figure out who this Flamel person is," added Ron, poking through the books with a pessimistic look on his face. "I read for _three whole hours _and I only got through two chapters."

"Impressive," said Hermione, dryly. Despite herself, however, she did seem interested. She picked up one of the heaviest books - _A History of Alchemists in Wizarding Britain _- and turned the volume about in her hands. "So no luck then?"

"None," said Harry, flatly. "I don't want to look at another book again."

Ron sniggered. "Yeah, that'll do _wonders_ for your education."

They laughed, but just then, Ron's family owl, Errol, appeared at the window with a tin that was unmistakeably one of Mrs Weasley's famous care packages.

"_Food_!" Julia jumped up from the floor and unlatched the window, letting the bird in along with a gust of cold air and a few flakes of snow - meanwhile, Ron, utterly disregarding his mother's lengthy-looking letter, dived for the tin before Julia could.

"Get off! That's _my _food! Is your last name Weasley? _No_!"

Something hit Ron hard on the back of the head and he yelped, spinning round.

"Don't be such a bloody pig, Ron!" George or Fred (was there a way of telling which?) yelled across the room. "Share the food!"

"Yeah!" agreed the other twin, sauntering over. "It's not _just _for you, Ronnikins."

There was a tussle for the biscuit tin between Ron and the twins that the twins predictably won - with Julia egging them on from the sidelines.

"Oi!" Ron growled, as George held him in a headlock and Fred opened the tin to reveal a glorious mound of freshly baked brownies. There commenced another, shorter, fight over who would get the biggest brownie slice, and as portions were divided, Hermione snatched up the letter that had accompanied the baked goods. "_Honestly_ you lot," she snapped, pursuing the words on the parchment and reading random comments of Mrs Weasley's not aloud. "...your neighbours have moved out...oh and Fred 'n George - your Mum's furious - Percy told her about you blowing up Filch's closet - "

"-git-" said Fred, casually, through a mouthful of brownie. Hermione frowned.

"-and she says well done to Harry for making the Gryffindor team. And tells him to be careful - "

"-best not tell her you almost swallowed the snitch and crashed your broom, then-" said George to Harry, sagely.

"- and she hopes that Ron isn't giving me and Julia too much trouble."

Julia grinned.

"-_typical_," moaned Ron. "She _always_ sides with you if you're a girl. Ginny gets away with murder in our house."

The letter was put away, and after a general rant from the Weasley boys recounting the number of times their younger sister had escaped punishment based on - according to them - her gender and the fact she was the _youngest_, a Gobstones tournament was established.

It was, therefore, long after midnight by the time Julia and Hermione trooped off to the girl's dormitories for bed. They stood side by side brushing their teeth in the small bathroom, mute with tiredness. They crawled into their respective beds - Julia had warmed to hers after she discovered the house-elves put hot pans underneath the mattress to warm the sheets - and then subsequently fought over who had to get back up and turn off the light.

"G'night Hermione," Julia whispered, sleepily, after Hermione had successfully bullied her into getting up. She snuggled back under her covers.

"Night Julia."

Julia was just drifting off - sleep was pulling her away from the land of the waking quickly - before she had just enough time to register that the hole in her chest, the one that had been aching since the conversation with Ron that morning, wasn't hurting anymore.

Julia wouldn't figure out why until a few years later when she was older and wiser - when she figured out that family didn't have to be bound by blood.


	10. Eight Reindeer

**CHAPTER 10: EIGHT REINDEER **

* * *

><p>"I think she's actually going to wet herself," said Ron, smirking.<p>

"Nah, but she is going to get hexed in a second," said Harry, confidently.

"Oh will you two shut up!" said Hermione in exasperation as the three of them watched Julia dance manically around Hagrid as he attempted to carry the Christmas tree into the Great Hall.

Christmas was rapidly approaching - but apparently it wasn't approaching fast enough for Julia. In the last week of lessons she'd been practically unmanageable, and Harry was privately dreading their last lesson of term with Professor McGonagall and an over-excited Julia hyped on Christmas-spirit.

However, even Harry couldn't deny he felt slightly giddy about Christmas at Hogwarts. It had never exactly been fun at the Dursley's, but even though he was as unlikely to get presents this year as he had been last year, the atmosphere in Hogwarts alone was enough for him. He walked round the school drinking everything he could in; the halls had been festooned with holly and mistletoe and corridors seemed to be even louder than usual with excited chatter. Professor Flitwick had actually given up teaching the class in their first lesson that morning and released them twenty minutes early with a tired and rueful "Merry Christmas!"

"Y'know, she'd kind of like a gremlin. If we just set her loose in Transfiguration -" continued Ron.

Hermione shot him a look.

"Don't be stupid, Ron. She's not _that_ bad-"

"Oh," said Harry, watching as Julia linked arms with Seamus Finnegan ahead of them and burst into a merry, Muggle rendition of _I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. _"She is."

"Good luck with that, mate," said Ron, slapping him on the shoulder as they entered Transfiguration.

Harry approached his and Julia's desk hesitantly. She was sat down, getting her books out - she _seemed _fine. Harry gingerly sat down next to her and he looked at her unpacking her bag like one would watch an inert - but live - land-mine.

"Where did _you_ go?" Julia accused him, looking up. "You missed my beautiful singing!"

"Trust me, I didn't. I was right behind you."

She frowned, but lightened up as she pulled a Sugar Quill out of her bag - which Hermione quickly plucked from her hand from her usual position at the desk behind them.

"_Hey_!" Julia snapped.

"_Keep it down_," Harry said, warily, watching as their strict Head of House swept in from a side-door and threw a disapproving look at Julia due to her outburst. "McGonagall looks like she wants to kill you."

"She always looks like that," Julia grumbled, at the same time as Hermione whispered, "I_ really_ don't think you need any more sugar, Julia."

She pouted, and all three of them turned to face the front. The previous lesson everyone had finally progressed onto turning a matchstick into a needle and then back again - even Neville - and so the general expectation was that the new topic - transfiguration of a teapot - would be introduced.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "It has been brought to my attention from Professor Flitwick this morning that the Gryffindor - Huffelpuff Charms lesson was practically ungovernable." The Gryffindor's in the class shifted in their seats and looked at one another guiltily. "I should be very clear that good behaviour is expected from all of you no matter what time of year it may be. Now, as it is out last lesson and we finished our first module on Friday last week, there is obviously no point in starting a new topic today, especially when you are so...over-excitable." (Here, her gaze very clearly fell on Julia and Seamus - making it abundantly clear she had heard their racket out in the corridor.) Julia, however, seemed impervious to McGonagall for once, looking as if she was hardly daring to believe her ears. "As such," Professor McGonagall continued. "I've decided not to move on to the next module...and give you all a surprise quiz."

"I...I think I just died a little inside," Julia whispered, visibly deflating.

Harry just looked grimly at the test paper McGonagall was placing in front of them.

"But Professor it's _Christmas_," cried out Ron, from across the room.

"No, Mr Weasley, if you consulted a calendar you would know that December twenty-fifth is in eleven days," Professor McGonagall said, crisply. "You have 45 minutes," she announced to the class. "You may begin."

Resignedly, Julia looked down at the first question, only to frown in confusion.

_(1) In what year was the Muggle tradition of Christmas adopted by the Wizarding World?_

_(2) According to Muggle folklore, what are the names of the eight reindeer that lead the fictional character 'Santa's' sleigh?_

"Er, Professor?" Julia looked up. "I don't think this is covered on our syllabus."

Professor McGonagall gave her a thin smile, looking pleased with herself. "This is a _Christmas_-themed quiz, Miss Pearce. There will be house-points awarded to the student who gets the most correct answers. I thought we'd have a bit of fun in our last lesson."

"Right," said Harry, hollowly, flipping through the pages of fifty-five questions. "Fun."

Predictably, Hermione came out top of the class - as did most of the other muggle-born students. Pure-blood students faired the worst; as Ron and Julia walked out of the lesson, they were having a heated debate over whether McGonagall had made up the word 'Santa' or not.

"For someone who loves Christmas so much, you don't know a lot about it," noted Hermione, looking at the grade on Julia's paper over her shoulder (an abysmal 15/55).

"Well, it was pretty unfair considering most of it was about _Muggle_ stuff," Ron snapped, trying to hide his 8/55 from Hermione. "On what planet was that _fun_?"

"_I_ think it was fun," said Hermione, offended, and then her voice turned dark as she watched Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot pass them - both pure-bloods. "And it proved a point. Wizards really _should _know more about the muggle-world and it's traditions."

"Hermione, surely this Santa bloke's a wizard, though - otherwise how does he get the presents to all the children?"

Harry and Hermione valiantly attempted to keep straight faces as they both attempted to explain to Ron and Julia that Father Christmas was just a story for small children.

They decided to spend lunch at Hagrid's cabin and braved the thick snow outside to trek down to his hut.


	11. Christmas And Snowballs

**CHAPTER 11: CHRISTMAS AND SNOWBALLS**

* * *

><p>At last it was time for Julia to let go. The four friends stood on Hogsmeade platform bidding Hermione goodbye for the Christmas holidays. Ron and Harry were standing back a little, scarves wrapped round their necks, hands jammed in their pockets. Julia, face pink with cold, gave her best friend one last hug and stepped back.<p>

"I'm going to miss you."

"_Merlin, you'd think Hermione wasn't coming back_," Ron whispered to Harry, rolling his eyes.

Julia and Hermione ignored them.

"I'll miss you too, but it's only two weeks, Julia."

"Yeah, but your leaving me with these two gits!"

"_Oi_!"

Hermione shook her head at the disgruntled look on Ron's face and then grabbed Julia by the shoulders. She looked uncomfortably like Professor McGonagall."Don't open my Christmas present to you until Christmas Day," she said, severely.

"...I wasn't going to."

"-Harry, make sure she doesn't open it until the 25th."

"The amount of faith you have in me is _astounding_."

Hermione simply shrugged. "I know you."

"I'll send a letter with Pudge every day."

"Please don't," said Hermione, dryly. "Every other day would be _completely _sufficient."

"I know, but I like annoying you."

"_Goodbye_, Julia."

"Wait - wait - wait!" Hermione, who had started to walk to the nearest train carriage, turned expectantly. A snowball hit in her in the face.

"_Oh for goodness sake_," she snapped, spluttering snow and looking between Ron, Harry and Julia for the culprit.

They grinned back innocently. "Bye Hermione!"

She didn't reply, muttering darkly to herself as she hauled her trunk up onto the train.

* * *

><p>It was Christmas Eve and Ron, Harry and Julia were flopped down in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. The feast that night had been unusually excellent and the snowball fight they'd had with Fred and George had left the three tired and exhausted. Julia and Ron had born the brunt of the snowballs - Julia; because she didn't understand the concept of 'don't dish out what you can't take', and Ron because he was the twin's default target. Harry's seeker speed, aim and scrawny stature meant that he'd fared the best of the three of them and was looking rather pleased with himself as he roasted a marshmallow over the fire.<p>

"Hey," Ron said, eagerly, suddenly sitting up and looking at Julia. "Did Parvarti and Lavender go home for the holidays?"

"I think so, why?"

"Well, it kind of sucks that you're all alone in your dormitory so -"

"-Ron if you're suggesting I sleep in the boys dormitory I _will_ kill you."

Ron's ears burned red but he pressed on resiliently. "_No_. Hear me out, okay? I was going to say we could all drag our quilts down here and sleep in the Common Room."

Julia and Harry's eyes lit up. "It'll be like a sleepover!" said Julia, grinning.

"I'm a genius."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ron, I think your ego just inflated to the size of this room," he said thickly through a mouthful of marshmallow.

"Maybe we should exclude him and his smug-git face from this," Julia agreed.

"I second that."

They laughed, and then Julia became suddenly and uncharacteristically serious. "So..."she said. The room tensed, and all that could be heard was the crackling flames and Harry struggling to chew the four marshmallows he'd stuffed in his mouth. "Who gets the bedding?"

The three of them looked at each other for a long second before Julia's hand flew to her nose. "Nose goes!"

"Nose goes!" said Ron, touching his nose.

"Arjhhhgjd," moaned Harry through his marshmallow. He swallowed painfully and then said: "That wasn't fair!"

"Too bad Harry!"

"Yeah, off you go," said Ron, clapping him on the back.

Harry went up to the boy's dormitories, grumbling, and after a while Ron took pity on him and followed.

Julia flopped back down to lie on the carpet and stared up at the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, looming over her head.

A smile spread across her face.

It was Christmas and she was spending the holidays in Hogwarts with her friends! _How cool was that_?

* * *

><p>Julia woke the next morning lying upside down in one of the comfy Gryffindor armchairs. She groaned, slithering off of the armchair and onto the carpet which was littered with sleep wrappers - but was, at least, comfier than the sofa.<p>

Ron was asleep on the sofa next to Julia's, the bishop from his chess set embedded in his left cheek. Harry was lying a little way off from Julia on the floor, quilt tangled round his legs and his hair looking even messier than usual.

Still groggy from waking, Julia stood up, her normally pin-straight chestnut hair sticking up at the back.

The one thing she loved about Harry and Ron was that they never made her feel self-conscious about her appearance; she could be as slovenly as she liked; they were boys, they didn't care.

"Pudge!" Julia croaked hoarsely as she spotted the owl tapping at the window with a letter in its beak.

She opened the window quickly and her tiny owl flew in, shaking the snow from its wings with a grateful hoot. With no owl treats to give, Julia picked up a cauldron cake from the floor in offering. Pudge pecked at it dubiously.

_Julia_, the letter read.

_I've just woken up and I'm about to go to work. Christmas morning is so strange with out you jumping on my bed at 4am! I miss you. Somehow when you're home you make me feel like I've got a family of ten living in the house. (I realize this is a very back-handed compliment.) I just wanted to say Happy Christmas and I hope you enjoy your presents. _

_I'll see you for New Years when you come home. _

_I love you, _

_Amelia_

Julia noticed the huge pile of presents underneath the tree and her heart fluttered in her chest in the way a young eleven year olds is wont to on Christmas Day. She carefully placed Amelia's letter on the nearby table and proceeded to jump on Harry and Ron excitedly.

"_WAKE-UP-IT'S-CHRISTMAS_!" she screamed loudly.


	12. Pictures

**CHAPTER 12: PICTURES**

* * *

><p>Julia was sitting in front of the fire in her pajamas reading one the books Hermione had bought her for Christmas when she felt the hairs begin to rise on the back of her neck. She checked around the Common Room, and, content that it was as empty and as dark and silent as it normally was, she turned back to her book. Then -<p>

"Hey!" Julia jumped violently as Harry suddenly appeared next to her, pulling the Invisibility Cloak off of him.

"Oh _Merlin_ Harry, don't do that!"

"Sorry," he grinned.

They were silent for a minute. The fire crackled quietly. "So," Harry said, presently. "I see that you're...reading."

"Yes."

"And in doing so you're missing out on the great spectacle that is walking round Hogwarts under the Invisibility Cloak."

"True."

Silence, then. "_Come on Julia. You have to - _"

"Harry, we'll get caught!"

"You've been spending _way _too much time with Hermione - where's your sense of adventure?"

"I _have _a sense of adventure - it just doesn't involve walking round a freezing castle at the dead of night."

"_Chicken." _

The effect was instantaneous. "I am _not _a chicken," she snapped hotly.

Harry made no reply and continued to goad with his lop-sided grin. Julia was a regular Gryffindor through and through - it was easy to bait her.

"Stop smiling. I'm serious Harry! I'm not a chicken!"

"I'm not smiling...and you are _such _a chicken."

"I'm _nooootttttt_!" But her whine only made Harry smile more. "_Stop it_!" complained Julia. "_Harry _this is stupid. You are..." She puffed her cheeks out in frustration. "_Fine_. I'm coming. Let me just go and get a jumper first."

"See, _there's _the sense of adventure I like to see, Pearce."

"Shut up, Potter."

* * *

><p>The castle really <em>was <em>freezing; even Julia's purple Weasley jumper couldn't keep out the frigid cold. She huddled closer to Harry under the cloak.

"I can't believe you opened that screaming book. What were you _thinking_?"

"You dared me!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

"Julia!-"

Harry slapped a hand over Julia's mouth to stop her from replying and as she watched, her grey eyes wide, Snape and Filch came around the corner ahead of them. They couldn't see Harry and Julia of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came any closer they'd knock into them.

Julia tugged on Harry's sleeve, pulling him back away as quietly as she could. A door stood ajar to the left. It was their only hope. At his insistence, she squeezed though first, holding her breath and trying not to move the door, and Harry slipped in after her, listening closely to the footsteps of the two teachers.

"They're gone," he finally whispered, and the pair of them turned to examine the room they had stumbled into.

It looked like a disused classroom, but against the opposite wall there was a large mirror with an ornate frame.

Harry moved closer towards it, transfixed, and Julia just stood there, her heart pinching in the way it did when you knew something bad or scary was about to happen. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was in a big dark room with a foreboding looking mirror in it.

"Harry," she said, her voice shaking. "Harry, I really think we should go back to Gryffindor Tower."

But he wasn't listening. His face was pale, his hand reaching up to touch the mirror as if he expected to be able to reach through it and to whatever was on the other side.

"Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"

"Harry..."

"Julia come and look!"

She did. "Harry, I really don't see anything."

"No they're there - really!"

_If I cry now, _Julia thought, _I will kill myself. _

"Harry, your parents are dead...there's no-one there," she whispered, her throat tight. The excitement glowing behind Harry's green eyes began to vanish. "But they're there Julia. I saw them."

Julia didn't know what to say. She didn't know if there was _anything _to say, so she reached forwards and wrapped her arms tight around him. And it wasn't creepy or embarrassing, despite the fact that Julia had never really hugged Harry before - it was just what it was.

One orphan consoling another.

"Whatever that mirror is, Harry. It's not the truth. It's not healthy, either. I'm no Hermione, but I can tell you that much."

The more she spoke, the more tightly Harry hugged her back. And the weirdest thing of all was that when Julia looking in the mirror, she didn't see any kind of vision like Harry had - she just saw the pair of them, as they were now.


	13. New Year's Party

**CHAPTER 13: NEW YEAR'S PARTY**

* * *

><p>As Julia sat on the Muggle London Underground, riding the 4.32 (PM) train from King's Cross to Ladbroke Grove, she decided to re-read Hermione's most recent letter to her.<p>

The letter was in her left jeans pocket, and Julia had to awkwardly jiggle Pudge's cage and her battered duffle bag on her lap to fish around for the crumpled piece of parchment. Ignoring the curious looks her fellow passengers shot her when Pudge gave an indignant hoot, she merely mumbled "_yeah_, _yeah_," at the bird absently, re-balancing his cage and smoothing the letter out better.

_Julia, _(it read)

_That mirror sounds very dodgy. I don't like that it just __happened__ to be in a classroom that you and Harry just __happened__ to stumble into. _

_How many times has Harry been back to it? _

_You really ought to stop him - it's not healthy and it doesn't sound safe that the mirror knows that he'd most want to see his parents. In fact, I'm amazed you haven't told Professor McGonagall yet. Maybe one of us should write to Ron and tell him to go and see her?...I know, I know. Ron would absolutely scoff at that and tell me I'm over-reacting - as usual._

_Anyway. I'm excited about New Year's Eve, too (1992 is only a day away!). I'm sorry I can't come to your Aunt's party tonight (it sounds like so much fun! It would be fascinating to speak to all of Amelia's friends who work at the Ministry of Magic!) but my parents want to spend the evening with family. My cousins are coming up from Bournemouth and everything._

_I'm getting the Hogwarts Express back on the 4th - will you be going back then as well? _

_Love, _

_Hermione. _

_P.S - my Mum is v. amused by Pudge and my Dad wants to know how you trained him to know where my house is. They love magic, but I still don't think they understand any of it!_

Julia shook her head at Hermione's Muggle parents, bemused, and folded the letter back up.

She looked round the train with interest, kicking her legs. The man opposite her in a long coat and scarf was reading the Muggle paper and Julia squinted, attempting to see if the pictures would move

- but they remained stubbornly motionless. It's reader caught Julia staring unashamedly and he cleared his throat awkwardly, glanced at Pudge, and then refocused on his paper with renewed intensity.

Luckily for the man, Julia's stop was next and she struggled off the train with her bag and Pudge's cage uncertainly. She'd only taken the underground a handful of times and always with Amelia - suddenly swept up in a tide of commuters, Julia had no idea which way was out.

She was just about a panic when there was a loud_ crack_ next to her that none of the Muggles round her seemed to notice. "Need a hand?" a voice said.

"_Amelia_!" Julia threw her arms round her Aunt's waist and Pudge gave out a loud shriek as his cage was swung violently round like a pendulum.

"Hey, Jules," said Amelia, warmly, crouching on the floor and enveloping Julia in an equally tight hug. "I missed you."

"Did you just sniff my hair?"

"Mm, I forgot what you smelt like."

"That's so weird."

Amelia tickled her and Julia giggled. "I'm allowed to be a little bit weird. I haven't seen you since September."

"You saw me Halowe'en," Julia pointed out as Amelia straightened, taking Julia's bag in one hand and Julia's hand in her other.

"That doesn't count - you were barely conscious."

"I was _fine_."

"You drive me sick with worry sometimes, you know that?"

"I am nowhere _near_ as bad as Fred and George."

"Who are Fred and George?"

They chatted like that all the way home - or rather, Julia talked and Amelia listened, a familiar rueful smile on her face she always got when she listened to her niece's antics.

Their flat was ten minutes from the station and the route was an attractive one, even in winter. Christmas lights still hung from lamp-posts and the cars parked alongside the pavement were still coated in a light dusting of snow from the night before. Evening was already settling in and there was a sense of impending excitement for New Years Eve. One Muggle women walked passed them in tall, clip-cloppy heels; inexplicably dressed as a _mange_ _tout_. She gave Julia and Amelia an embarrassed sort of smirk as she passed. Ahead, a group of loud men were already spilling out of the local pub - one of them exclaiming, "ruddy bleedin' Nora - that girl's got an _owl_!" as he went by.

Julia was bouncing with excitement by the time Amelia let them into their flat. Amelia had thrown a New Years Eve party every single year Julia could remember, and they were always full of exciting, important people that Amelia met at the Ministry of Magic. Though her Aunt was normally frazzled by hosting, Julia always loved the parties.

She was unsurprised to see their usually untidy house spotless when they entered. Next to the Christmas tree was a table filled with a lot of different bottles - "grown-up drinks," Amelia told her, sternly - and the coffee table and clutter had been magicked away to leave a large expanse of free space.

"I've got another Christmas present for you, by the way," Amelia said, pointing to a lumpy, silver-wrapped parcel under the tree. Julia dived for it instantly, and her Aunt sighed. "Sometimes I worry I spoil you."

"I don't," said Julia, beaming, as she tore open the package and held up the dress Amelia had bought her. It was exactly the kind of thing her smart-dressing Aunt would _not _pick out in a million years, and the only reason she'd been spot-on with this gift was because Julia herself had picked it out over summer from a vintage clothes shop she liked. It was a navy shirtdress, with pictures of the Eiffel Towers and Poodles artistically drawn all over it. Julia looked up at Amelia faux-sweetly. "_How did you know?_"

"Yeah, yeah -" said Amelia, rolling her eyes. "Go and put it on so you can give me a twirl. I want to see what it looks like on you."

* * *

><p>The guests began to trickle in at 8 PM, and by 10 the party was in full swing. Julia had no idea how many people were in the apartment, but it was a lot. The radio had been magically enhanced to thump '<em>The Weird Sisters<em>' round the house and people were attempting to talk loudly over it, clutching glasses of bubbly champagne.

"I like your dress."

Julia turned from piling her plate high with turkey and cranberry finger-sandwiches at the buffet table, surprised (this wasn't usually the response she got to her clothing) and came face to face with a girl dressed even more flamboyantly than she was. She was small, too, but that was because she was evidently younger than Julia, with a round, pale face and fairy-blonde hair. The girl was wearing what looked like a bright pink feathery dress and orange trainers, so that she vaguely resembled a flamingo.

"Thanks," Julia grinned, hurriedly shoving a few sandwiches off her plate to make the portion look more lady-like. "I like your trainers."

The girl looked down as if she'd just remembered she had feet, tapping them together. "Oh...yes...I do too, but I'm not used to them. I normally don't wear shoes, you see." She peered at Julia with interest. "You're older than me, aren't you - do you go to Hogwarts?"

"Er - yes, I'm in my first year. Gryffindor." Julia said, eyeing her plate out of the corner of her eye distractedly. _Was five sandwiches too many?_

"What's your name?"

"Julia."

"Mine's Luna Lovegood."

Julia, who had just picked up a _vol au vent _and popped it in her mouth, promptly choked. "_You're_ Dad writes the _Quibbler_?"

"Oh yes," said Luna, staring into the crowd, oblivious to the tone which Julia had spoken with. "There he is, with Cressida Warbank."

Julia looked, spotting a man in his early forties with hair almost as long and as white as his daughters who was clearly very tipsy and gesturing wildly with his champagne so that it sloshed around in the glass dangerously. The woman he was talking to was attempting to look politely intrigued, but was most definitely not the crusading vampire rights activist Cressida Warbank. Julia laughed. "That's not Cressida Warbank, that's Amelia Bones. She's head of Magical Law Enforcement"

Luna nodded sagely. "But Daddy says she's really Cressida Warbank, and that she uses her position on the Wizengamot to fix trails in favour of vampires."

"Really?" Julia looked more closely at Amelia Bones. Her skin _was_ awfully pale, and she _was _awfully strict and scary. In fact, she looked a lot like Professor McGonagall. Could McGonagall, also, perhaps be an undercover vampire?

"No, I'm pretty sure that's Amelia Bones," said Julia's Amelia to the two girls, setting a plate of mince pies down on the buffet table she'd been offering round and dusting her hands together. "I'm about 99% sure."

Julia looked at her Aunt with pride. Her Aunt had been spending the evening flitting from group to group, being charming and smiley. Her red hair was coiled into an elaborate knot at the back of her head and she was wearing a slinky velvet dress the colour of midnight.

"Who's your friend, Jules?"

"This is Luna."

"Mince pie, Luna?"

"Thank you," said Luna, politely, taking the offered mince pie.

"Your Dad's just been telling me I have a dangerous amount of Wrackspurt floating round my ears," Amelia informed the small girl.

"Yes, they make your brain go all fuzzy. It's an awfully strange feeling."

"Or it's that third glass of wine I had," Julia heard Amelia mutter under her breath, then, more clearly so Luna could hear her. "Well, have fun girls - and for goodness sake Julia, stop eating all the _vol au vents_!"

Julia poked her tongue out after her Aunt and turned back to Luna.

"So - we have another...two hours until midnight - what do you want to do?"

Luna's eyes lit up. "Ghost hunting?"

Julia's eyes-lit up with excitement before she remembered something. "I don't think we have ghosts in this flat."

"Daddy said when we arrived there could be some in the park across the road."

Julia cracked an evil grin and dropped her seventh _vol au vent _back on its plate. "Luna. Let's go be ghost hunters."


	14. You're A Troll, Julia

**CHAPTER 14: YOU'RE A TROLL, JULIA**

* * *

><p>That January, whilst Harry, Ron and Hermione were busy running around Hogwarts trying to find out who Nicholas Flamel was, Julia was being summoned to her head of house to discuss why and <em>how<em> she'd managed to get a 'Troll' mark in her Herbology mid-year report.

Of course, a letter had had to be sent home, explaining the situation and asking Julia's parent/guardian to support her academically within Hogwarts and encourage a pro-active work ethic (which, apparently, Julia herself lacked). Amelia's rather humorous reply to his had been to say that, with a mark like that, she hoped her niece wasn't actually going to class. And when Julia had explained that she hadn't missed a single Herbology lesson that year Amelia had pointed out that she'd missed every homework deadline in the subject that year as well.

Julia had had to concede her Aunt had a point.

If being interrogated by her Aunt hadn't been enough, however, Professor McGonagall was getting involved as well.

"Miss Pearce," she said, rather sternly. "It's been brought to my attention by Professor Sprout that you managed to obtain a _Troll_ mark in Herbology this term. Would you care to explain?"

Julia fidgeted in her seat nervously. She was so tiny that her legs barely touched the floor, and a blush was slowly creeping its was up her cheeks.

"Erm...I don't know quite exactly how that happened, Professor McGonagall."

"Do you find the work particularly difficult?" McGonagall pressed, leaning back in her seat and surveying the small child in front of her over her spectacles. "Or do you find some of your fellow classmates disruptive? Mr Potter or Mr Weasley, perhaps?"

"Oh _no_, Professor. No, Harry and Ron are great. They're very...um...quiet."

"You're sure it's not Potter and Weasley?"

"Absolutely," Julia replied, attempting to stare her Head of House in the eye with out flinching.

"Very well, is there anything about your Herbology lessons you would like to discuss with me that you wouldn't feel inclined to discuss with Professor Sprout?"

This, to Julia, was a rather shifty question - she was sure that anything she told Professor McGonagall _now_ would be almost guaranteed to be told to her Herbology teacher _later_.

"Not really. I mean, I just...I don't _know_ what I find so difficult about Herbology. The plants are just really, _really_ scary. Like, there was this one plant with tentacles -"

"- Miss Pearce -"

"I just _can't _do it."

Professor McGonagall's lips pressed together into a thin, exasperated line. 'Can't do it' was not a phrase any teacher wanted to hear. Ever. "Well _really_, you pot a plant, Miss Pierce. You put soil over it. Is it really so _hard_?"

"Well, the plants do tend to bite and - hang on, are you allowed to say that?"

The corner of her teacher's mouth twitched as if she was about to smile. "_Miss Pearce_."

"Sorry Professor."

"Well," said Professor McGonagall, straightening and inspecting Julia's report which was lying on her desk. "You're marks in your other subjects and satisfactory - Charms and Care of Magical Creatures more so - you have _Outstandings _in both - so I see no reason not to let you off this time with a warning."

Julia felt a great rush of relief. "Thank you Professor."

But Professor McGonagall already seemed to be busying herself with rifling through lesson plans and kept her eyes on the parchment on her desk as she replied: "you may go to your first lesson now, Julia. I'll arrange a meeting with you at the end of this year to see if you've made any progress in Herbology. If you'd be so kind as to shut the door on your way out."

"Okay Professor."

* * *

><p>Late that night Hermione sat on Julia's bed plaiting her hair for her, the two girls talking quietly so as not to wake their fellow room-mates Lavender and Parvarti.<p>

"Your hair is so straight," Hermione said enviously as she twisted Julia's own chestnut locks, "mine's so bushy I can hardly do anything with it."

"I like your hair," Julia replied, frowning, as she handed Hermione an elastic over her shoulder to tie the plait off with.

"Thanks." There was a final snap of the hairband as Hermione twisted it into place and then Julia turned to face her friend. "So, what did Professor McGonagall say this morning?" Hermione asked.

Julia inclined her head for Hermione to turn round so she could plait her hair. "Not much," she replied, evasively.

"Was it that bad?"

Julia paused as she attempted to section Hermione's wild hair into three parts. "No."

Hermione twisted to give her a pointed look.

"It was kind of bad," Julia admitted, grudgingly.

"I thought it might have been - what did Professor McGonagall say?"

"She asked how hard could it be to put a plant in a pot."

"She _didn't_?" Hermione said, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Julia laughed. "I don't think Professor Sprout would be very impressed if _I _said that."

"No," agreed Hermione, and then Julia gave her hair a particularly hard tug and she yelped. "_Ow,_ Julia!"

"Sorry," Julia cringed in apology. "I'm almost done."

She finished off doing Hermione's hair and clambered into her own bed, turning off the lights on the way. "Harry's next Quidditch match tomorrow," Julia said randomly as she stared through the blackness to where she thought Hermione would be.

"Mmm."

"_And_ Snape's refereeing."

"I know. Oh I _really_ hope he'll be alright."

"Me too."

Julia heard the rustling of blankets as Hermione shifted in bed.

"Try not to worry about Herbology too much Julia."

Julia nodded.

"Seriously," Hermione continued, in a practical tone of voice. "I know you can do well in it."

Julia continued nodding, not realizing Hermione couldn't see her in the dark.

"Say something!"

"Like what?"

Hermione laughed, cracking open a book on her knee. "Alright that counts." She yawned loudly. "_Merlin_, I'm tired."

But Julia was already asleep.

* * *

><p>The next day, Hermione and Julia bid Harry goodbye before he went to the changing rooms and then met with Ron and Neville to walk down to the Quidditch stands outside the Entrance Hall.<p>

"Oi, you two!" Ron yelled loudly by the door.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "His manners really are impeccable, aren't they?"

"Definitely has a way with words."

Neville smiled at them timidly as they approached. "Going to the match today Hermione?"

Julia looked at Neville. "Well _obviously_ she is."

Hermione threw her an angry _don't-be-rude_ look and smiled at Neville. "Never miss them. Hence my current patriotism..." she indicated to the red and gold scarf round her neck.

"Hermione, you wear that every day," Julia pointed out, who had red and gold war-paint stripes on her face. "I would hardly call that house pride."

"Only in cold weather and only with uniform!" argued Hermione, defensively.

"'Mione," Run cut in. "The _Huffelpuffs _look more enthusiastic for Gryffindor than you do."

"They do _not_. Do they, Julia?"

The four of them filed into the stands - Ron and Hermione still bickering - and had just sat down on one of the benches when something poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry Weasley, didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Pearce?"

But Julia wasn't listening. Madam Hooch had just blown the whistle to begin the game and she was anxiously following one of the seven red and gold blurs shooting into the air that was Harry.

"You know how I think they choose the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy continued a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Huffelpuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasley's, who've got no money - you should be on the team, Pearce - you've got no brains."

This comment normally wouldn't have bothered Julia - but so soon after her meeting with Professor McGonagall it was a low blow.

"Right, _that's it_!" she yelled, and before Malfoy could do anything, she had whipped her wand from her cloak pocket. "_Flippendo!" _

In such close quarters her terrible aim wasn't much of a handicap and the spell his Malfoy squarely in the chest, blowing him backwards off his seat.

On the row in front of them, Seamus and Dean switched their attention from the match to Julia and Malfoy. "_Yeah_, _Julia_!" yelled Dean. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Malfoy struggled upright, red in the face and furious, and Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles threateningly, looking at Julia. She gulped.

Luckily, Ron and Neville decided to join the fray - making it a fair three-on-three fight. Ron dived for Malfoy, and Neville seemed to be attempting to put Goyle in some kind of headlock. Julia's eyes met Crabbe's piggy one's for a single, long moment before she cried "_FOR GRYFFINDOR!_" and threw herself at him.

"Fighting!" Percy was yelling from somewhere over the noise. "Fighting in the stands! This is completely unacceptable!"

Hermione was too busy jumping up and down in her seat to care about the fight - screaming Harry's name as he dived for the Snitch.

All in all, it was a very entertaining Quidditch match - resulting in Julia's second detention at Hogwarts.


	15. Fight

**CHAPTER 15: FIGHT **

* * *

><p>The detentions were distributed among the six brawlers. Ron, Julia and Neville being allocated a two-hour slot together on Tuesday evening.<p>

The three of them found that they didn't seem to mind the detention much. The fight had provided them with a lot of glory – almost more so than Harry – and both Julia and Ron discovered that the students in their first-period Defense Against The Dark Arts class the next morning were far more interested in their war-wounds than listening to Professor Quirrell drone on about jinx theory.

"And then – right – Neville's got Goyle in some kind of headlock and Julia is taking on Crabbe – me, I've got Malfoy – and he's not going down easy –" Ron animatedly told the group of first-year Ravenclaws gathered around him.

Hermione, sat next to Julia, rolled her eyes. "_Will you keep it down?" _she hissed at him, her quill poised over her parchment. "_I'm trying to listen!" _

Ron pretended he hadn't heard her and carried on.

Harry, meanwhile, muttered out of the corner of his mouth to Julia: "Did you _really _hex Malfoy?"

"Yeah," she replied, proudly, and Harry's face broke into a broad, pleasant grin that Julia found she actually quite liked.

"Nice," he smirked, high-fiving her underneath the table where Quirrell won't see.

Because of her 'Troll' mark in Herbology, Julia and Hermione had agreed together that it would be better if she tried harder to pay attention in lessons. And actually meet homework deadlines. Or, at least, this is what Hermione was clearly trying to communicate to Julia through her silent, indignant expression as she glared at her and Harry; obviously aware that Ron was a lost cause.

Julia ducked her head, smirking, and pretended to listen to Quirrell, when, really, she was reliving the fight inside her head. She felt kind of giddy. Heroic. Was it a bad thing she was already planning the next jinx she would be able to use on Malfoy? She almost _wanted _to meet him in the corridor on the way to second-period Quidditch. That way, when he inevitably taunted Harry or Ron or Hermione she could just whip out her wand and hex him. She could use _Flippendo _again or something entirely new. Julia felt her heart begin to beat a little faster. What if she actually succeeded in turning Malfoy yellow, as Ron had tried to do with Scabbers on the train? She imagined Ron and Harry laughing…Malfoy's horrified face. It would be the _best_.

She was pulled out of her daydream by the bell indicating the end of the lesson. Quirrell could barely stutter out their homework assignment over the general noise and chit-chat of the class. Julia slung her rucksack over her shoulder but kept her hand and wand in her pocket so that she'd be ready for Malfoy. She_ knew _that duelling was forbidden in the corridors. But what was another detention for the satisfaction of hexing Malfoy?

She, Harry and Hermione exited class – Ron trailing a little further behind with Dean and Seamus as they continued to animatedly relive the fight for the millionth time. Harry seemed merely bemused by Ron's exuberance; Hermione, exasperated. Julia barely spoke to either of them as she cast round the busy corridors eagerly for a sight of Malfoy's sleek, blonde hair or Goyle's gormless features…she wasn't fussy, really.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked her, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she took in Julia's craning neck as the small girl attempted to peer over the heads of other students. "And why have you got your hand in your pocket like that?" she asked, her voice now more sharp.

"Like what?" asked Julia, defensively, removing her hand from her pocket so as to look less suspicious. But there was no fooling Hermione.

"You're not honestly thinking about _dueling_ in the corridor are you?!"

"…No."

Her friend was disapproving and unconvinced. "Don't you think you've got in enough trouble for this week?"

"C'mon Hermione," said Julia, bracingly. "What's another detention? Besides, Malfoy'll probably do something to deserve it."

"Just because he'll _probably _do something to deserve it, doesn't mean you can just _attack_ him in the corridors, Julia!" bristled Hermione, looking angry.

"Yeah," added Harry, reasonably. "You'll just start another Gryffindor – Slytherin feud. I quite like walking round without having to worry about being hexed, thanks."

"It's just a bit of fun," muttered Julia, annoyed, but feeling her enthusiasm waning despite herself.

"You know what I think? I think this fight's gone to your head."

"_Me?_" spluttered Julia, looking back at Ron. "What about _him_?!"

"Ron's boasting is harmless. You're looking for revenge."

"Bit melodramatic."

"Actually, you know what's worse, you're not even looking for revenge. You don't even have a good reason. You're just doing this because you _feel like it_."

Julia felt really irritable now. Her enthusiasm for the idea of hexing Malfoy had now completely gone in the wake of Hermione's pestering and Harry's neutral reasonableness. The buzz that she'd been riding through Defense Against The Dark Arts had officially gone. "Alright! Fine! I won't go looking for Malfoy!" she huffed, blowing her cheeks out.

But she had got Hermione started and it didn't look as if the bushy haired girl was about to come down from her moral high-ground any time soon.

" – and even if he does offend you or attack you, you still should –"

"- totally hex him," Harry interjected over Hermione. "Because then he'd deserve it."

Julia grinned at Harry and Hermione, looking annoyed, stormed off ahead of them muttering darkly under her breath.

"She'll cool off," Harry reassured Julia, as if she didn't already know that.

Harry and Julia spent most of their Quidditch lesson, and the rest of the day, together. Hermione was still cranky and Ron was too busy making new friends. They spent most of dinner that night discussing their latest Quidditch lesson (they'd been practising diving and Neville had characteristically and predictably been the first to crash into the ground.) Julia entertaining Harry her uncanny impressions of Madam Hooch.

To that end, it was only the two of them walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner that night. The corridors were dark in the early winter evenings – torches flickering on the walls. Somehow, Julia suddenly found herself thinking about the mirror of Erised.

"Did you ever go back?" she asked Harry, abruptly. "To that mirror?"

His pale, thin face turned simultaneously sheepish and guarded. "Yeah. But it's gone now. Someone moved it." He looked at her. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

Harry squinted at her quizzically, as if trying to read a book with particularly small print. "….Hang on, did _you_ see anything in it?"

"No," Julia lied, blushing.

Even in the darkness Harry saw and grinned.

"You did, didn't you?" he pushed, with the tactlessness of an eleven year old boy. "What did you see?"

"I'm not telling."

"Okay, fine."

"What?" Julia looked at him sharply, surprised that Harry had relented so quickly.

"Okay," he repeated, shrugging and looking at his feet. "I get it."

"Oh." Did he think she had seen her parents? _Should _she have seen her parents, like Harry had? Did this mean that she didn't love Caroline and Gus as much as Harry loved Lily and James? Julia struggled…thinking. How could she love two people she had never known?

They were both silent for a long moment, and then there was the sound of raucous laughter from nearby. A group of people were about to turn onto the corridor Julia and Harry were standing on. The voice was unmistakable. Loud. Brazen. Malfoy.

Harry turned to Julia, and the pair of them seemed to consider one another.

"Invisibility Cloak?" Julia suggested, finally.

Harry looked noticeably relieved. "Yeah," he agreed, frantically rummaging round in his bag for the cloak as Malfoy and his cronies approached. Just as the group came into sight, Harry threw the cloak over himself and Julia. They both stood stock-still as the Slytherins passed by, talking noisily about Neville's latest Quidditch blunder.

"Did you see that fat lump's face when he hit the ground?" Malfoy jeered loudly, clearly not caring to keep his voice down. "Teach him a lesson for thinking he can assault _us _at a Quidditch match in broad daylight. My father –"

Julia's fingers twitched round her wand, but, remembering her conversation with Hermione, and applying a great force of will, she decided not to use it. Still, she wasn't completely perfect. Just as Malfoy walked past her and Harry, Julia stuck her foot up from underneath the invisibility cloak, tripping him. The action gave her an immense amount of satisfaction.

Malfoy hit the floor with a sharp and loud _smack. _The look of shock and surprise on his face as he looked around wildly almost made Julia laugh out loud.

"You alright Malfoy?" Crabbe asked, looking at his leader with a stupid, vacant expression on his face and then back down the seemingly empty corridor.

"Yeah – fine," muttered the blonde-haired Slytherin, getting to his feet jerkily and looking slightly red in the face. "Must've tripped or something."

The Slytherins rounded the corner at the end of the corridor and were gone.

Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of them. He didn't say anything, but shot Julia a sideways look as he stuffed the cloak safely back into his bag.

"Sorry," said Julia, sheepishly. "I couldn't resist. Don't tell Hermione."

Harry smirked at her. "Wouldn't dream of it."


	16. Rash Decisions

**CHAPTER 16: RASH DECISIONS**

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><p>Their next Potions lesson was nearly unbearable. Snape was in a foul mood after Gryffindor's latest win against Slytherin and, worse, it was a double period on a Friday morning, meaning that it was a practical lesson.<p>

She, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were all gathered round their usual table at the back of the large dungeon. The low, dark ceiling and the vapour coming out of their cauldrons made the classroom feel vaguely claustrophobic. The jars of various, disgusting ingredients lining the walls did not help matters, either.

Honestly, Potions _would _have been Julia's favourite subject. She enjoyed making things. She and Hermione inevitably and often had a clash of ideologies; Hermione always stubbornly insisted they stick to the textbook, whilst Julia wasn't beyond adding a pinch of another ingredient to help their potion along - with varying results – still, they balanced one another out well. However, Snape seemed to have cottoned on to their successful partnership and since Christmas had been forcing them to work individually. This meant that Hermione spent most of her time feverishly whispering instructions to Neville under her breath so as to prevent a nervous breakdown, leaving Harry, Ron and Julia to sweat over their own cauldrons.

The Herbicide potion that they were making was fiendishly difficult. The steam coming from their cauldrons had steamed up Harry's glasses and Ron was becoming progressively more irritable as he struggled to crush his lionfish spines. He'd kept up a constant and colourful stream of swear words under his breath for the past ten minutes and finally Julia snapped.

"Ron, stop being such a grumpy _git _–" She said, puffing out her cheeks as she always did when mad.

"- well I'm _sorry_," Ron snapped back at her, angrily. "But – these – spines – are – bloody –" he didn't finish his sentence, pummelling his mortar ferociously with the pestle.

Julia, who had crushed her lionfish spines to a fine powder and had already added them to her cauldron, smirked. "Need some help, Ronald?"

Harry snorted and Ron shot them both a filthy look. "Are you trying to insinuate that you're stronger than me?"

"Yeah," Julia said, indifferently, adjusting the heat on her cauldron.

Ron shook his head in disbelief. "You're mad. You're, like, half my height." Julia remained silent and Ron appealed to Harry. "Tell her Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting involved."

"Fine." Ron huffed. "Arm wrestle?"

"You're ten minutes behind," Julia pointed out, and Ron waved a dismissive hand at his potion.

"This is more important."

"I dunno Ron…." Harry interjected, who was looking at Snape out of the corner of his eye. The black robed man was currently engaged in conversation with the Slytherin's, but he had a nose for trouble, and it was doubtless that the moment Julia and Ron came off-task, he would swoop over like some, over-grown bat.

"No. We're proving this," said Ron, stubbornly, resting his left elbow on the free bit of table between his and Julia's cauldron. With out fuss, Julia gripped her hand in his. She was not one to back down on a challenge.

"Ready?" asked Ron, his mouth set into a firm line.

"On the count of three," Julia nodded her head, her eyes slightly narrowed. "Three…two…one –"

Both suddenly pushed with all their might. Ron's face was a puce red beneath his freckles and Julia's cheeks were so puffed out she looked like a hamster.

There was a brief, ten second lull in which the force against one another was equal, but then Ron put in another spurt of effort and suddenly Julia's arm was slammed back into the desk.

"YES!" Ron punched the air triumphantly before he remembered they were in a classroom. Snape's gaze shot over to their table and Ron managed to just about disguise his out-burst as a cough. Snape did not look convinced.

"That as my weaker arm!" protested Julia, angrily, but Ron just continued to look annoyingly smug as he turned back to crushing his lionfish. "Right," she snapped, turning to Harry (who looked vaguely alarmed at the determination on her face.) "Your turn, Harry."

"Er…why?"

"We've got to find out who the weakest in the group is," she said, as if it was obvious. She was already placing her elbow on the table. Harry looked vaguely alarmed at the prospect of arm-wrestling Julia. Unlike Ron, he didn't feel his personal pride hung on his ability to fight a girl.

"Right –" he said, hesitantly, gripping his hand in hers.

"Ready?" Julia checked.

"Yeah," replied Harry, expecting there to be some kind of count-down, but Julia abruptly put all her strength behind her left arm, catching Harry off-guard. She was clearly determined to win.

Harry caught himself at the last moment before Julia won, just about keep in his hand in mid-air and applying pressure back. Julia's eyes widened as their hands swung back like a pendulum. "No – no – no – Harry you _git_ –"

"_Julia _–" Hermione scolded, looking up from her position next to Neville to glare at her and Harry. "Can't you two just get back to work?"

"_No_. I've got to win this," Julia replied to her friend through gritted teeth – not removing her eyes from Harry's green ones.

Harry realised that he didn't much care about the arm-wrestle, but for some reason Julia's whole life seemed to hinge on stupid, small things like these. It _was _quite funny. The small girl looked slightly deranged.

He relented, allowing his hand to be slammed onto the table by Julia's tiny one. Like Ron, she automatically threw her hands up into the air, a huge grin on her face. "I WIN!"

Harry had to laugh at her reaction. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Gloating isn't nice, you know."

"Don't care!" sang Julia, dancing around her stool.

Ron behind her muttered something about '_fluke_' under his breath. The effect was instantaneous.

Julia's cheeks puffed out. She turned, grabbing the jar of flobberworm mucus as she did so and dumped the entire contents into Ron's cauldron. His entire potion instantly belched out a huge cloud of smoke.

Perhaps some backstory is needed here. Ron and Julia and Harry had taken to throwing odd ingredients into each other's cauldrons if one annoyed the other. Julia, predictably, had rashly taken it too far this time and ended up throwing in more than was perhaps necessary.

Their table was instantly engulfed in a thick cloud of smoke, from which the five children emerged, coughing, when Snape swept over and banished the smug with a wave of his wand.

"_WHAT_," he said, icily – his cold eyes fixed on Julia – "did you just do?"

Julia, whose eyes were streaming from the smoke, could only choke out: "Nothing."

"_Nothing_?" echoed Snape, silkily. He towered over her and, to Julia, looked positively terrifying. She hated it when he spoke barely moving his lips like this – it was so unnerving. "…Were you aware, Miss Pearce, that had you just added a _drop _more of flobberworm mucus into Mister Weasley's cauldron, you would have caused a serious explosion?" Julia's face turned white underneath the soot. "No?" answered Snape, raising a single eyebrow. "Your actions could have_…._tragically…cost Mr Weasley his head. And I can assure you that whilst you seem to think the safety of your classmates is a laughing matter, I certainly do not."

Ron was looking somewhere over Snape's shoulder, his face pale. Neville and Hermione were busy pretending to look at something interesting in their textbooks. Julia merely stood there, wishing she could disappear into the ground. She was covered head to toe in ashy soot and suddenly didn't feel quite so clever anymore.

Snape's lip curled. "Detention, Miss Pearce. Every evening for the next week at seven o clock."

With a parting look of utmost loathing, he walked away to the front of the class. Julia dimly realised that she was shaking. She felt awful.

"He hates me," she said, sounding vaguely shell-shocked. "…._Seven _detentions…."

Next to her, Harry took off his glasses and used his sleeve to wipe the smoke off of them. "Forget Snape," he said, "McGonagall's going to _kill _you."

And whilst Professor McGonagall didn't quite murder Julia, her Head of House was not happy to hear that her student had once again received another bout of detentions after both fighting on the Quidditch pitch and failing Herbology. She looked almost exasperated to see Julia once again standing in her office, her head hung sheepishly as she explained what had occurred in Potions that morning. There were still smudges of soot on her cheeks.

"Do you think you could _engage _your brain every once in a while, Pearce?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking as if she was physically restraining herself from rolling her eyes. "I would have hoped your friendship with Miss Granger has rubbed off on you by now, but clearly it has not."

"I'm sorry," muttered Julia to her shoes. "I don't think sometimes."

"That," replied McGonagall, her voice ruthlessly clipped, "is obvious. _Why _did you think it would be a good idea to tamper with Mr Weasley's potion?"

Julia said something in such a small voice that Professor McGonagall had to ask her to speak up. "He annoyed me," she repeated, a little more loudly this time, wincing as she did so.

"By doing what?"

"He said that I won an arm wrestle by a fluke."

If possible, Professor McGonagall's lips thinned even further and her eyes narrowed. She looked remarkably like a very angry cat. "You were fooling around in a Potions class?! Tell me Miss Pearce, do I need to forcibly separate you and Weasley?"

"Er –"

"This is your last warning. If I hear one more complaint from one of your teachers, I will have you in detention for a month. Am I clear?"

"Yes Professor."

"Good. And Miss Pearce?"

Julia, finally, lifted her head to look the older woman in the eye. "Practice _thinking _before _doing _in the future."

"Yes Professor," Julia said, weakly, wondering _how _exactly she landed herself in these situations.


	17. The Shape Of Things To Come

**CHAPTER 16: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME **

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><p>They were going through the trap door.<p>

_They_ were going through the trap door!

Not her.

She was being left behind.

And, actually, was it surprising?

Harry had had to go on account of him being Harry, Hermione had had to go on account of her being the only one able to perform any decent defensive strategy (that didn't resort to hexing people and throwing punches) and that left Ron and Julia to fight their case.

Ron had said he was good at chess.

Julia had scoffed and said how likely was it that they'd have to play a game of _chess_ to get to the Philosopher's Stone? She'd said she was good at...well, chatting with strangers and cheering people up and running headlong into dangerous situations with out thinking.

Ron had said he was Harry's best friend and therefore _had_ to go.

Julia had said she was Hermione's.

Ron had said he was a Weasley - which, apparently, was enough said.

Julia said she was a Pearce - which, actually, _wasn't_ enough said, as nobody really knew what the Pearce family were like, so her whole argument was a bit of a moot point.

And this was why Julia was running through the corridors late one night looking for Professor Dumbledore's office, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were running to the third floor corridor under an invisibility cloak that was only big enough for three.

Eventually, after a questionable set of directions from Peeves, Julia found the entrance to Dumbledore's office - and realized she had no clue what the password was.

"Erm - peppermint toads?" she said, at length.

The griffin remained annoyingly still.

"Sugar plum fairies." Again, nothing.

Julia puffed out her cheeks, frustrated.

"Caramel Quaffles. Tooth-flossing Stringmints. Acid pops. Chocolate dragons_. Oh for Merlin's sake_! SUGAR QUILLS!"

The griffin creaked. Slowly it began to revolve, opening up to reveal a stairway.

Julia beamed and ran up the steps - knocking on the door at the top, which opened at her touch.

The office was completely empty - Dumbledore conspicuously missing.

Julia hesitated. Did she wait for him here? Professor McGonagall hadn't believed them when they'd tried to explain to her that Snape was after the Philosopher's Stone, so there was no use going to another teacher.

She walked further into the office. It was obscenely large, with obscure objects clustered on the ceiling-high shelves. In one corner Julia noticed the Sorting Hat, and in the other...

Julia stared. In the other corner was the Mirror of Erised. What on earth was the mirror doing in Dumbledore's office?

She was about to walk towards it when a voice made her whip round. "I wouldn't, if I were you."

Her heart thudding, she cast round for the source of the voice – until she realised that it had come from the Sorting Hat.

"Why not?"

"Oh….many reasons," said the hat, the rip near the brim moving in conjunction with its words. It moved slightly, and Julia got the distinct impression that it was _looking _at her. Which was stupid. Because the hat didn't have eyes. "I remember you. You were the one that wanted to feed me to the Giant Squid."

"Only because you were going to put me in _Slytherin_!" she shot back, hotly.

The hat chuckled. "Yes, I must admit Gryffindor seems to…_suit _you."

Could a house suit a person? Julia wasn't sure. She moved her attention from the hat back to the mirror, and was about to take a curious peek when she was interrupted by a voice again. And this time it wasn't the hat.

"Good evening, Julia."

"Er-" she stuttered.

Somehow, Dumbledore was sat at his desk, hands steepled, as if he had been there the whole time.

"Ah, I see you've found the Mirror of Erised." He continued, his eyes twinkling, "...though I think your reasons for coming here were _not_ merely to look in the mirror, Julia. Am I correct?"

The first thing Julia did in response to this question was to wonder how on earth the headmaster knew her name. The second was to blurt out everything about the Philosopher's Stone and the trap door and Snape, and the invisibility cloak that really had only enough room to hide three and the mortal peril her friends were in.

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye suddenly vanished and he nodded, standing up with a great sweep of deep purple robes and indicated for Julia to follow him out of his office.

The whole moment was really very impressive, only slightly marred by the fact that Julia had to literally jog to keep apace with the Greatest Wizard Of All Time.

"How long ago did Mr Potter go down the trap door, Julia? Dumbledore asked, gravely, as they sped down a flight of steps.

"Only a quarter of an hour ago," Julia said, breathlessly.

"And may I be so bold as to ask why you are not down there with them?"

"The invisibility cloak only fits three, sir...and I, well, none of us thought I could contribute much."

Dumbledore stopped abruptly, kneeling down in front of her and grasping her shoulders tightly. "Julia," he said - and never had her name been uttered with so much sympathy. She could feel a hardness begin to form in her throat and a welling behind her eyes. "You will have as much to do with events to come as Harry will. You are special, and in time your friends will realize that that isn't always reflected though one's bravery, or how smart they are, but in how deeply they love. Remember that, Julia."

And then he stood up and Julia blinked, as if some kind of spell had been broken.

"Now," said Dumbledore, "we must hurry."

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><p><strong>AN **Thank you for all your lovely reviews - I'm so glad so many of you like Julia! And to the reviewer who said that she's sort of like a young James and Sirius, that is almost my intention ;)

There will be a plot to this story that will become more apparent in the next two books.

_Last Of The Lilac Wine_


	18. Many Meetings

**CHAPTER 18: MANY MEETINGS**

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><p>Julia Pearce had not changed much - physically, at least - since her first day at Hogwarts. She wore her skirt a centimetre shorter, her was hair maybe a bit longer (but still as messy as ever). She had not grown an inch.<p>

Physically, at least, Julia Pearce was _almost_ exactly the same.

And then there were other things. Small, tiny, unnoticeable things, which gave away the dramatic change that had occurred in the short space of a year. There was a tiny scar on her forehead where she had been hit by the arm of a falling troll; if you looked at her medical record at the hospital wing you would see that before Christmas, a shrinking charm had had to be administered due to the fact that she had grown taller than Ron thanks to a drunk Sixth Year; there was a tiny pink blush to her cheeks when she though about hugging Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised. And, of course, there was that _T_ on her end-of-year report that had meant she had failed Herbology.

Then there were moments, wedged in the time between when she was laughing at a joke Ron made and Hermione telling him to behave, and in the late hours of the night, where Julia went very quiet. This was the small, tiny, unnoticeable thing that would tell you that Julia Pearce missed her dead family, that she was insecure about her grades - that she was frightened she would always be a little too short.

So, of course, it was fair to say Julia _had_ changed - even if she was as quirky and ridiculous as ever on the outside.

Julia, Ron, Harry and Hermione were all standing at platform 9 and 3/4 exchanging goodbyes in the wake of the long summer holidays they would spend apart.

"You have to come and stay this summer," said Ron, as he awkwardly hugged a considerably shorter Julia. "All of you - I'll send an owl."

"Please don't," said Harry, darkly. "My Uncle'll go ballistic. Telephone if you can." He took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and ripped it in three, scribbling a curious identical line of numbers on each.

Julia took the proffered slip of parchment with a frown. "What's a fellytone?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll explain later, Julia."

Harry grinned and looked over his shoulder - the smile quickly dropping from his face. "Well, there are the Dursley's - I'll see you guys soon."

Julia gaped, and before she could stop herself, she blurted: "_That's your Aunt and Uncle?! __Those_ are the people you_ live_ with? Why?!"

"I don't know. If I absolutely _had _to guess, though, I'd say it was something to do with me being their nephew," said Harry, dryly.

Ron sniggered, but both Hermione and Julia frowned worriedly.

"Well-er-have a good holiday Harry," said Hermione, giving him another hug and casting another, uncertain look at the Dursley's.

Harry juggled Hedwig's cage into his other arm and grinned as Julia reached forwards to hug him too. "Bye Harry. Have a good summer -"

Someone - a stranger - yelled from the crowd jostling past them.

"Hey, that's Harry Potter!"

Harry pulled a face and Julia felt compelled to add, "-and don't hit anyone."

"Very funny Julia."

He pulled away and Julia, Ron and Hermione watched him walk up to a man who vaguely resembled a walrus, a very thin woman who looked like a horse, and a young boy who looked like a whale.

Julia giggled to herself at the image and Hermione sent her a disapproving look.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" she asked, as the three of them wheeled their trolleys over towards where Mrs Weasley, Amelia, and Hermione's parents had grouped.

"Of course he will," said Ron, unconvincingly.

"Oh yeah, definitely," said Julia, sarcastically.

Hermione frowned. "We'll all write to him over the holidays and -"

"Oh, Ron! Are these your new friends?" Interrupted Mrs Weasley, beaming with motherly pride as the three children approached. She turned to Amelia and said, in an undertone that carried: "we were worried he was going to struggle to make friends at first, you know…bless him," she added fondly, as an after-though.

"_MUM_!" protested Ron, his ears turning red.

"Oh Ronald – I just _meant _–"

"Don't worry," replied Amelia, smirking. "I had the same worries about Julia."

Ron, forgetting his embarrassment momentarily, snorted loudly. "Yeah, the first time we met Julia was _so_ awkward – it was a bit disturbing, really."

"Well you weren't exactly Prince Charming yourself, Ron," Hermione pointed out, fairly.

"Well _you _weren't exactly Little-Miss-Sunshine," shot back Ron. "I seem to remember you telling me I had dirt on my nose."

"Which you _did_."

"So?!"

To cut across her friends' bickering, Julia promptly threw her arms around her Aunt's waist in an exaggerated display of affection. "Amelia!"

Hermione proceeded to greet her parents with the appropriate level of enthusiasm, and even though Ron muttered something about it being 'not cool' he gingerly hugged Mrs Weasley anyway.

After some time, however, Julia became aware that Mr Granger was staring at her intently.

"Wha-" she opened her mouth to say, loosening her hold on Amelia.

"There!" shouted Mr Granger, pouncing forward and holding Julia's jaw open. "Crikey Julia, that's a bit of a crooked E7 you've got there!"

"What?" squeaked Julia, frantically jumping backwards and slamming her hand over her mouth. "Where?!" But Mr Granger had already turned to his wife.

"Charlotte, come and look at Julia's upper E7 quickly, I think she might need braces."

Julia's - along with Ron's - completely drained of colour. They had heard about these Muggle torture devices.

Hermione's face was burning like the setting sun, and her mother rolled her eyes at her husband's antics in a very Hermione-ish way.

"Rodger, you're going to scare Hermione's friend away! You can take you hand away from your mouth now, Julia," she added kindly. "I promise we're not going to do anything to your teeth."

Julia eyed Mr Granger warily.

Julia eyed Mrs Granger warily.

Ever so slowly she lowered her hands from her mouth, willing to start fresh with introductions.

"Thank yo-"

Mrs Granger's eyes widened.

"You were right Rodger, I think she does need braces."

Amelia intervened quickly, seeing that Julia was entering full panic-mode. "In our world, Mrs Granger, wizard children don't need braces. Healers can magically correct them within seconds. I have a friend who works at St Mungo's and specializes in what they call Dentistry in the Muggle world; she says just to wait until all of Julia's baby teeth are out before she magically corrects them."

Julia let out an audible sigh of relief.

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><p><strong>AN **Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I've got some great Chamber of Secrets chapters written that are coming up. I hope you're enjoying the story.

_Last Of The Lilac Wine_


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